Transformers Cyber Battalion
by Average J0e
Summary: Spike Witwicky is an average teenager who is interested in robotics, and wants to woo his crush, Carly Spencer. However, he and his friends are caught in between a secret war between a race of car changing robots. Mainly G1, but contains elements from another continuities.
1. Outbreak

_Orbiting the star Alpha Centauri, the planet Cybertron existed. No rock, soil, nor dirt contributed to this world's bizarre geography. Cybertron was entire made of metal and computers. The Allspark, a device of divine power gave birth to our race. We were a race of sentient machines, with the ability to think for ourselves. We wandered Cybertron's broad mechanical expanses, and erected grand city states. For a time, we lived in harmony, but pride and a lust for power divided us. A clash of ideologies splintered our kind into two warring factions. Cybertron was plunged into darkness, and the Allspark was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the cosmos, hoping to find it. We searched every star, and every world. When all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called Earth. But we were already too late..._

 **Chapter 1 - Outbreak**

June 30, 2015

Nevada, USA

On a hot summer afternoon, a V-22 Offsprey aircraft was flying in the middle of Nevada. The sunlight stretched out on the large, massive dunes. The area was empty and barren, save for a few cow skulls and cacti lying about. Onboard the craft were 6 men. They were sitting on opposite sides, facing each other, with three of them on each side. 5 of them were U.S. soldiers. The last one was a businessman. The businessman was of Italian descent. He had greased black hair, with some gray streaks, and a black mustache. He wore glasses, a black business suit, with a lavender button down shirt, and a purple tie. He was staring down at a black smartphone with a stylized logo.

The soldiers were all wearing standard military uniforms. Two of the soldiers were African American, one was Mexican, and the other two where Caucasian. There was an awkward silence in the helicopter. The only thing that could be heard was the whirs of the helicopter rotors. One of the soldiers decided to ease the tension by starting up a conversation. "So, Fourth of July weekend is coming up. Any plans?" Asked the Caucasian soldier with glasses.

The businessman kept his eyes on his smartphone, not wanting to participate in the conversation. The rest of the soldiers looked at the Caucasian one. After a few seconds, one of the African American soldiers spoke up. "Yeah. I'm having a family reunion in Denver. Momma, Dad, Kids and Grankids is coming over. We barbecuing. How about you?

"I'm just spending it with some friends. Just a couple of guys, some drinks and a football game." The Caucasian soldier replied.

"Sounds like the life, man." The Mexican soldier said.

Soon, one of the African American soldiers turned to look at the businessman. "What about you, pretty boy? Got some expensive Italian sports cars you tryna drive this weekend?" Asked the African American soldier.

The businessman looked up from his smartphone and at the soldier. "On the contrary, no. My sister, Charlene is going to be coming to the U.S. soon. We are having a family reunion on a yacht in Florida." The businessman said, grinning.

The African American soldier turned away. He was know regretting he asked that question. Before long, the helicopter was nearing a secret military base. The copter landed on a helipad. Multiple military officials walked up to the craft, holding their hands in front of their faces to protect themselves from the gusts of wind caused by the copter's rotors. As the rotors came to a stop, the doors of the copter slid open. The soldiers hopped out of the coptor, with the businessman coming out behind them. The businessman approached the military official.

"Mr. Blackrock, Special Agent William Fowler, and Director Marissa Faireborn are waiting for you inside." Said the official. Blackrock nodded, and the soldiers began to escort him into a large warehouse. The warehouse doors slid open, as the soldiers escorted Blackrock inside. Blackrock walked over to an elevator with a security swipe. Blackrock approached it, pulled out a card, and swiped it. A scanner ejected from a panel on a wall near the elevator, and scanned Blackrock's eye.

"Welcome, Garrison Blackrock." Said an automated voice. The elevator doors slid open, and Blackrock and the soldiers stepped in. The doors closed and the elevator descended multiple floors. After about 45 seconds, the elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid opened. Blackrock walked out of the elevator and into a massive laboratory.

The laboratory was filled with scientists and engineers hustling and bustling about. On each wall of the laboratory, massive mechanical automatons were bolted to the walls and surrounded by scaffolding, to allow the scientists to study these machines. The robots the scientists were studying were of alien design. The robots were outfitted with technology that had never been seen before by mankind. Some of the robots were on convey belts, and were being operated on by machines. Blackrock looked around and saw a Caucasian woman, an African American and Indian man. The woman had red hair, and wore a white military uniform with a badge that read "E.D.C". The African American had black hair and wore a blue suit and tie. The Indian man had black hair, with some gray streaks. He wore a teal lab coat with black rubber gloves.

"Ahh, Special Agent Fowler and Director Faireborn. I was informed that you were waiting for me to arrive. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Said Blackrock while approaching them. He extended his hand, and shook hands with the Director and the Special Agent.

"Look, Mr. Blackrock. While I am all for formalities, me and Director Faireborn are on a tight schedule," said Fowler with a stern look.

"Agent Fowler is right." Said Director Faireborn. The Earth Defense Command wants to know how we can use your latest scientific find to our advantage."

"Oh, am glad you asked." Blackrock said. He then turned to the Indian man. "Professor Sumdac, would you care to explain?"

"I would be honored to, Mr. Blackrock." Said Sumdac. "Right this way, ladies and gentlemen." He gestured towards one of the conveyer belts, and walked over to them. "As you know, we here at Blackrock Enterprises manufacture a great deal of the planet's technology. When we discovered these robots in the year 2003, they were buried underground. Experts theorize that these robots came from the heavens, and crashed on our planet millions of years ago. These robot's designs, are completely alien to us. Thanks to them, we have a new insight into and understanding of the world of robotics. Most modern day technology that has been created in the 21st century has been reverse engineered from these mechanical marvels. We have recently discovered that these robots possess military capability that is vastly superior to the United States and North Korea."

"If what you're saying is true Professor Sumdac, then it is imperative that we keep these robots out of the hands of any enemies of the United States." Said Fowler. Before anyone could respond, one of the scientists called for Sumdac.

"Professor Sumdac, there's something's wrong!" Yelled one of the scientists.

Sumdac turned to Blackrock, Faireborn and Fowler. "Excuse me for a moment." He said. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked, as he approached one of the scientists. He climbed up the scaffolding the scientist was on. Blackrock, who was intrigued, walked over to the scaffolding to hear what was going on.

"Professor, there seems to be some kind of unusual energy fluctuations coming from inside this robot's chest. He pointed downward to a red and blue robot on the conveyer belt.

"Open it up." Said Blackrock who had climbed up the scaffolding. Blackrock was always searching for new opportunities.

"But sir, we don't know anything about this energy!" Said the scientist.

"Did I stutter? I said, open it up!" exclaimed Blackrock. He sounded more demanding this time. The scientist reluctantly nodded in acknowledgment and went over to the claw machine controls. Two claw machines carefully pried open the red robot's chest compartment, revealing a shiny blue crystal which was encapsulated in an orange casing, with two handles on the sides. Blackrock looked in closer, but soon, the crystal started glowing.

"Sir, the energy readings are going off the scale! It's going to blow!" Said the scientist. Blackrock stood back, and a light blue shockwave surged throughout the entire facility, causing some machines to shut off. The surge was strong enough to send the scaffolding Blackrock and Sumdac were on toppling over, hurling both of them to the ground. As the light dimmed, Blackrock slowly got up, while Fowler and Faireborn rushed over to assist him.

"Mr. Blackrock are you alright?" Asked Fowler.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing a little trip to the dry cleaner's won't fix!" Blackrock said, while dusting himself off. Before anything could be said, a deep, raspy voice began to speak.

"Do you want to know what I hate the most about human beings?" Asked the voice.

"Who said that?" Asked Blackrock while looking around.

"I did." Said the voice.

Everybody in the facility turned their heads towards a gray robot that was pinned to the wall by the scaffolding. The robot's optics began to glow a bright ruby red. The robot's mouth began to move, as he talked. "You humans think you control it all. War, power, wealth. You think you are the masters of your own fate. You all think you are the center of the universe. You have no idea. Let me show you how wrong you are!!" The robot clenched his fists and broke free from the scaffolding. He looked around, and spotted a massive cannon. he proceeded to pick it up and mount it on his right arm.

"Who? No, what are you?!" Screamed one of the scientists in horror, while looking at the rampaging machine.

"I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I am everything which is, which was and what is to come, and you will know my name as **MEGATRON** when I lay my vengeance upon you!" Megatron aimed his cannon at the humans and started firing. The humans began scurrying for safety like ants. He walked over to the converter builds, and tore of the cables that bound his robotic comrades. "Arise, my Decepticons! You are functional once again, and in exchange for your freedom, you all are now commanded by me!" Growled Megatron.

The Decepticons began to break free from their restraints. They looked around and began scanning alternate modes based off of what vehicles were in the facility. Soon, Megatron pointed his cannon to the ceiling and fired it, causing the ceiling to collapse, creating an opening for the Decepticons. Follow me, my subjects! Onward to freedom! The Decepticons ascended out of the hole, and broke out of the warehouse. The Decepticons blasted all in their path, turning the base into a smoldering wreck.

"Decepticons, transform and rise up!" Commanded Megatron. The Decepticons transformed into their alternate modes. Some flew to the sky, others drove on the ground. The sun had set by the time the Decepticons had disappeared from the base.

Meanwhile, inside the facility.

"Mr. Blackrock, we have a situation!" Said one of the scientists as they helped Blackrock up.

"Really, what gave it away? The giant forty foot robot?!" Yelled Blackrock.

"Something worse. The rest of the machines. All of them have escaped." As the scientists looked around, they saw that every last one of the robots had escaped from the facility...

 **This is my first Transformers fanfic so I hope you enjoyed, please leave thoughts and feedback in your review!**


	2. The Calm

**Thank you for the positive feedback on the previous chapter. You guys are awesome.**

 **Chapter 2 - The Calm**

July 15, 2017

Portland, Oregon

It was noon in the city of Portland, Oregon. The sun was shining brightly, and people were wearing light clothing, and drinking cold beverages to cool off. Soon, a maroon colored automobile pulled up to the side of the curb. Inside the car was a Caucasian teenager. He had brown curly hair, and wore a baige button down shirt, with a white under shirt. He also wore blue jeans, and for some odd reason was wearing yellow rubber boots. He opened the door, and got out of the car. He leaned against the car door, and raised his hand over his head to blocked the sunlight. He looked around the block in hopes of finding someone.

"Witwicky!" Called out a voice from the other side of the street. The boy turned his head and saw another adolescent in the same grade approaching him. The person who was approaching him had ginger hair, and blue eyes. He wore a brown coat, with a white button down shirt, blue jeans and glasses.

"Chip, I've told you a thousand times to stop shouting my last name out in public. Call me Spike." Said Spike. Spike always hated when people said his surname out in public. It was often hard to pronounce, and would often get imbarrased if it was pronounced wrong, which was most of the time.

"What's wrong with the name, Witwicky? It can't be that hard to pronounce." Said Chip while grinning.

"Remember, Jeremy?" Asked Spike. "Jeremy was the valedictorian this year, and has had straight As in English for the past four years, and it still took him 41 tries to get my name right." Said Spike who was slightly irritated.

"Sorry, didn't know I was talking to the name police." Said Chip. Spike and Chip walked over to a thrift store, and went inside. Upon enetering, they were met with cool air coming from the air conditioners.

"Let's hurry up, find what we need and get out of here." Said Spike. "I wouldn't want to be caught dead at this place."

"You were the one who wanted to come here." Said Chip.

"Yeah, because Rick's Sporting Goods is too expensive." Said Spike.

Spike and Chip then split up to search the store for the supplies they needed. Spike then found an old 80's tape deck. He picked it up and dusted it off, revealing a weird insignia that was colored purple. Spike brushed it off, and thought it was a logo of some sort. After a few minutes, Spike and Chip proceeded to the check out, with Chip carrying rock climbing gear. Spike tried to conceal the tape deck from Chip. Chip was a bit of an elitist when it came to technology, and if he caught Spike with a tape deck, he would never let him live it down.

"You can not be serious, Spike." Said Chip who had spotted the tape deck. "Why would you want to waste money on garbage?"

"It's not garbage, Chip. It's memento. A keepsake to remind of us of an older time." Said Spike.

"Yeah, right." Said Chip while rolling his eyes. You can play with that all you want, but I have a brand new gaming PC with my name on it." Chip turned to see that Spike was ignoring him. Instead, Spike was focused on something else.

In front of him was a blonde Caucasian girl. She had blue eyes, and was wearing a blue jean jacket, a blue shirt and white jeans. She had a bunch of old computer parts with her at the check out. Spike gave his tape deck to Chip to carry, much to his friend's chagrin. He then mustered some courage and went over to talk to her.

"Hey, Carly what are you doing here?" Asked Spike.

"Oh, hey Spike. I'm just buying some parts for something important." Carly said.

"Oh, well I was wondering if you could come rock climbing with me and Chip later today. If that's cool with you, I mean." Said Spike, who was stumbling over his words a bit. Chip couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'm sorry, Spike. I'd love to, but I've got a project to work on. It's for a scholarship for M.I.T, and I really need to work on it." Said Carly. Maybe next time." Carly picked up her things and walked out of the store.

"Ouch. Crash and burn, Spike. Crash and burn." Said Chip with a witty grin. Spike couldn't help but sigh.

 _6 Months Earlier_

January 5, 2017

Arizona, USA

At a US SOCCENT Airbase, multiple military men and women were sitting at computers looking at radars, monitoring for any suspicious activity. Soon, something popped up on one of the radars. "Colonel Bryce, we have several unidentified infiltrators, 10 miles inbound." Said one of the radar specialists. The colonel made it over to the specialist's computer, and looked at the radar. He then went over to a microphone to contact the ,hsterious aircrafts.

"Attention unidentified aircraft, you are in restricted US airspace. Squawk identity and proceed east out of area." Said the colonel.

The unidentified aircrafts were three F-15 eagles. One of them was red, blue and gray. The second was blue and red and the third was purple and black. The jets didn't respond to the colonel's orders. Instead, they proceeded towards the air base. After almost an hour, the jets neared the airbase, the colonel contacted them again.

"Unidentified aircrafts, squawk identity immediately." commanded Bryce. As the jets landed at the air base, Bryce was becoming increasingly worried. He didn't know if this was a terroist attack or something else.

"You want identification? How's this for identification?" The purple and black jet transformed into a 36 foot tall robot. This was Skywarp. He aimed his machine guns at communications tower, and began firing at it.

"What the hell is that?" shouted Bryce, as laser blasts rippled through the glass window, causing it to shatter. The other two jets transformed, and began firing at the air base as well.

Tanks, jets and other vehicles were being destroyed with great ease by these machines.

"Colonel, we're under attack!" yelled one of the specialists. As the robots kept firing, the blue one created a massive shockwave that knocked out the base's communication equipment.

Multiple tanks and soldiers came up to the robots to confront them. They aimed their weapons and began to fire, but their bullets bounced off the robots' armor plating, inflicting little damage to them.

"Our weapons aren't even denting them! What are we going to do now?" Asked one of the soldiers as he stared in horror.

"That's adorable." Said the white, red and blue robot. "The humans think they can stop us. Seekers, show them what we're made of!"

The seekers fired cluster bombs at the humans, creating explosions that caused the humans to scatter. The seekers reveled in the wanton destruction, all except the blue robot.

"Remember Starscream, we're not here to terrorize humans, we are here to find out what it is they are hiding." Said the blue robot to the red one with a stern look.

"Ugh, fine Thundercracker." groaned Starscream. Thundercracker's seriousness always ruined the fun moments the Decepticons had while murdering innocents. "Soundwave, your services are required."

An eight wheeled Stryker vehicle transformed into a tall, dark blue robot. Soundwave pressed a button on his shoulder and his chest compartment opened up.

"Rumble: Eject!" said Soundwave in a deep monotone voice.

A small, blue robot hopped out of Soundwave's chest and ran towards the base. The soldiers were too busy fighting the seekers to notice Rumble. Rumble turned his hands into pile drivers, bashed his way through the walls of the base. He looked around, and found a data terminal. He walked over to it, and several mechanical tentacles extended from his back and latched on to the data terminal. He began to hack the military's database.

"Colonel, We're being hacked!" Said one of the radar specialists.

"Shut off the entire network! We can't let those things into our database!" Commanded Bryce.

The seekers continued firing at the humans, but the soldiers were no match for the Decepticons firepower. They were being mowed down at an alarming rate.

"There's no use in fighting back, retreat!" Shouted one of the soldiers. The rest of the army men retreated deeper into the base. Before long, Rumble came out of the base with a cheeky grin.

"I've hacked their database. All of their files are ours." Said Rumble.

"Then, our work he is done." said Starscream. "Decepticons, pull out! We're leaving!"

"Aww, and just when things were getting interesting!" Whined Skywarp.

"Don't worry, we aren't leaving without a consolation prize." Said Starscream. He reached into a hole in the communications tower, and grabbed Colonel Bryce

"Let me go, you monster!" Yelled Bryce. He tried to resist, but Starscream's tight grip prevented him from escaping.

"Monster? I like that name." Said Starscream. He opened the cockpit on his chest and placed Bryce inside.

Rumble returned to Soundwave's chest compartment. Soundwave transformed back into a communications truck, and the seekers transformed back into their jet forms, and flew off.

Wyoming, USA

 _Three days later_

January 8, 2017

Wyoming, USA

The sun was starting to set after a long day. The sky was a bright orange, and a breeze of cold wind swept across a forest. Three jets flew through the air, transform, and land near a mechanical fortress that was being constructed by robotic drones. They approached the walls of the fortress, and reached a gate. Several drones came out to inspect them. Once all was clear, the gates opened, and the seekers inside.

Inside the base was Megatron, who was sitting atop a makeshift throne made of scraps of metal and spare parts. The three Decepticons approached the throne and bowed.

"Ah, Lord Megatron." Starscream began. "Wallowing in the late evening junk?" Starscream asked with a witty tone. Starscream had always shown irreverence towards his leader.

Starscream looked up to see his master's reaction to his cheap epigram. Upon looking up, Megatron had quickly rushed over Starscream and began choking him with one hand.

"Spare me you're fool's tongue, Starscream. Before I cut it off, and silence you forever, just like the others who have defied me!" roared Megatron. Starscream struggled to break free from his master's grip, but Megatron's grip was tight and firm. Starscream felt Megatron's fingers inch closer and closer to his neural circuitry. Before Megatron could kill his lieutenant, Soundwave arrived at the fortress and transformed.

"Lord Megatron, I have processed the data that was stolen by Rumble." Soundwave said.

"Well? Out with it then!" bellowed Megatron.

"The company known as Blackrock Enterprises has made an interesting discovery in the state known as Idaho. It has been documented under a secure file. It could be of great interest. I have downloaded Blackrock's employee database in advance to help point us towards possible sources of intelligence." Said Soundwave. "Blackrock Enterprises manufactures a great deal of this planet's technology and resources. This discovery could possibly be fuel necessary to our survival." reported Soundwave.

"Hmm." said Megatron while in thought. He dropped Starscream to the ground. "Our Energon stores are nearly depleted. If this is a source of energy, we must find it! Soundwave, dispatch your Mini-Cons, and interrogate anyone who may have a connection to Blackrock's company." commanded Megatron.

"As you command, my liege." replied Soundwave.

"And what shall we do, mighty Megatron?" Asked Starscream who was on the floor, rubbing his neck.

"You shall remain here and assist the Battlechargers with construction efforts." bellowed Megatron. As Megatron returned to his throne, Starscream and the rest of the seekers bowed, and headed towards the construction sites.

"Construction duty? Boring." mumbled Skywarp had a short attention span, but he knew it to voice his complaints, or Megatron would have his hide.

"As you command, Mighty Megatron." grumbled Starscream in a mocking tone. Starscream believed he was destined for greatness, and would do anything to win. Even if it meant taking the throne from Megatron...


	3. Enemy of the System

**Chapter 3 - Enemy of the System**

Portland, Oregon

July 14, 2017

It was a cool summer evening in Portland. As the sun set the sky became a hue of dark blue. In a suburban neighborhood, a white car pulled up into the drive way of a two story house. The lawn was freshly mowed and the light on the front porch is on. As the car pulled up, the garage door on the front of the house opened. The man inside the car was slowly about to drive into the garage to park the car, but was surprised to see a black motorcycle already inside the garage. The man stopped the car, and got out.

He approached the motor cycle and mumbled under his breath. "What the?" The man assumed that his son was the one who brought the motorcycle in. "Jack!" Get down here!" The man said, calling out to his son.

After a half a minute, a seventeen year old boy came down into the garage. He had black, greased hair, and was wearing a gray shirt with with white sleeves and blue jeans. He was confused upon seeing the motorcycle in the garage.

"Is this you?" He asked while pointing at the motorcycle.

"Um, no. I don't know how that got here." He said while shrugging.

"Jack, I swear to god-"

"I'm serious, I don't know whose motorcycle that is! He said.

Jack's father sighed. He was already tired from a long day at work, and didn't have the energy to continue arguing with his son. "Just, go upstairs." He said while trying to remain calm.

Jack nodded, turned and went back inside the house. Jack's father was the only one in the garage now, and there was complete silence. Jack's father sighed once more and placed his hand onto his face, while deep in thought. After a few seconds, he was about to leave, but the motorcycle emitted a weird sound.

"TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE!"

Jack's father looked up, and suddenly, mechanical whirs filled the room, as the motorcycle's parts began to rearrange themselves into a new form. Jack's father stared in shock at what was happening. The motorcycle had transformed into a large mechanical being that resembled a panther.

"What are you!?" cried out Jack's father. He didn't know how to process what was happening.

"I am Ravage. Steadfast follower of the Decepticon Star Empire, and you have information that will prove useful to my cause." Said Ravage. Ravage spoke in a deep Russian accent. His glowing yellow eyes pierced Jack's father's soul, causing him to panic. If looks could kill, Jack's father would be dead.

He mustered some courage and responded to Ravage. "I don't know what you're talking about!" He yelled.

"Oh, I'm sure you do. I must make this quick, as to not jeopardize my mission." Said Ravage. As soon as he finished his sentence, multiple mechanical tentacles extended from his back, and attached themselves to Jack's father's head. Jack's father tried to struggle in order to break free, but after all of the tentacles successfully attached themselves to his head, and his squirms had finally stopped.

Ravage began probing the human's mind for any information that could be of use to him. He searched the human's mind multiple times, and found nothing. "Scrap." He mumbled under his breath. "It appears as though I was incorrect. Your insignificant mind does not contain the information I seek." Ravage said. "That makes you, surplus to requirements." Ravage charged up two blasters on the side of his hips, and he fired two lasers at Jack's father, causing him to fly into multiple shelves.

Ravage transformed back into a motorcycle, and drove out of the garage, and past Jack's father's car.

 _The following day_

July 15, 2017

Spike's car had pulled up into the driveway of his house. Spike lived in the same neighborhood that Jack ldid. Jack's house was a few blocks away from Spike's. Spike turned the car off, and he and Chip got out of the car. Spike called out for his father.

"Dad, you out here?" He asked.

"I'm in here." Said a voice. Spike looked into the garage and saw his father repairing a car. When Spike's father was off from work, he would usually repair automobiles. He was a master of his craft and earned himself the nickname "Sparkplug."

Spike nodded in acknowledgment, and then used his keys to unlock the front door. The house was nothing too fancy, the living room had a couch, and some chairs with a fireplace and a TV. There were multiple potted plants and pictures in the room. The kitchen had a toaster, a microwave, sink, refrigerator, a table that acted as a dining area.

Chip went into the living room, and set the stuff they bought down on the counter. Chip walked into the living room, and plopped himself on the couch, and turned on the T.V. There wasn't anything particularly interesting on, so he just tuned into Channel 5 News.

Spike went over to the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator. He searched for something to drink, and he found a root beer can. He grabbed it, cracked it opened and sipped some of it. "Chip, I'm gonna go upstairs and put my stuff away, we're leaving in fifteen minutes." Said Spike.

"Don't let me stop you." said Chip while staring at the television. Spike grabbed his tape deck and went upstairs to his room. He opened the door, and was surprised to see who was in there. Inside Spike's room, was Sari Sumdac. She was around 17 years old. She was Indian, and had red hair. She wore a beige tank top, orange jogging pants, and she had an organ sweater tied around her waist. In her hand was one of Spike's collectible action figures.

"Dude, why are you playing with these things?" Sari asked. She always teased Spike for his interest in nerd culture.

"How did you get into my room?" Spike asked while raising an eyebrow.

"These things are so dumb." Sari said, while fidgeting around with the action figure.

"Hey, don't dodge the question! How did you get into my room?" Spike asked.

Sari sighed and rolled her eyes. "I snuck in through the back door, you weren't here, so I waited in your room to pass the time." She said. "Now that I've answered your question, can you tell me why you're playing with dolls?

"They aren't dolls! They are collectible action figures from Japan. They are constructed out of die cast metal. It's a lost art." Said Spike.

"Yeah, right. That's about as much nerdiness I can take." Sari got up from Spike's bed and walked out of his room.

Spike set down his tape deck, and checked his phone. He was on his phone for around 15 minutes. He checked the time, and got up. He went downstairs and saw Chip was still watching TV. Sari, however was nowhere to be seen. Spike just assumed she left.

"Alright Chip, let's get ready and go." said Spike.

Chip glanced at the time and realized what time it was. He got up, and put his jacket back on. He grabbed the rock climbing gear that he set down, and followed behind Spike. While he and Spike were walking out the door, Chip decided to have a conversation with Spike about what he saw on TV.

"I saw a news report about a recent murder. It was Jack's dad." said Chip.

"Ouch. Poor Jack." said Spike. Spike didn't know Jack personally, but he felt bad for him. He knew what having only one parent was like. Chip and Spike got into the car, but Spike thought he should tell his dad that he was leaving before he left.

"We're going out Dad!" He yelled to his father.

"Alright, you know the rules. Be back by nine!" Sparkplug replied.

The car pulled out of the drive way, and soon began driving towards Main St. The house was quiet after Spike left. The silence in Spike's room was abruptly interrupted by his tape deck, which emitted a strange sound.

"TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE!"

The tape deck had transformed into a small silver robot who was covered in dust.

"Primus, that feels good. Lying immobile can really stiffen up the joints." said the robot. The robot jumped down from Spike's desk, careful not to make any noise. He slowly opened the door, and peered out into the hallway. Lucky for him, no one was there. He snuck out of the room, and made a mad dash for the room closest to Spike's. The door to this room was opened. He looked inside and saw a toilet, a sink, a bathtub and a mirror.

The robot had never seen anything this bizarre. He wondered what use the humans could have for these amenities. He just brushed it off, he

remembered he had a mission to accomplish.

He climbed up the toilet, and jumped onto the sink. With a birds eye view of the bathroom, he looked around, and saw nothing of interest. He jumped down from the sink, and scurried out of the bathroom. He then saw another room at the end of the hall. He dashed towards it, and opened the door. There was a large bed, a dresser, a desk and a closet. He climbed onto the desk and found a wallet. He opened it up, and pulled out a card.

The card was labeled Blackrock Enterprises, and had the name "Daniel Witwicky" on it. Next to the name was a picture of Sparkplug. The robot had finally found what he was looking for. He activated the comm link that was on his arm.

"Enemy to Barricade, come in Barricade!" The robot said.

"This better be important, Enemy." Barricade said, disgruntled.

"I've found another Blackrock employee, and get this, he has what the humans call a "son." said Enemy.

"A son? Sounds disgusting. What's so important about it?" Asked Barricade

"Apparently, he cares a lot about his son. Perhaps we could use it as leverage over him." Enemy replied.

"Hmm. Stay where you are. Transmit me your coordinates. Keep quiet long enough for me, to find this son. Got it?"

"Got it." said Enemy. Enemy quickly returned to Spike's bedroom, climbed back onto the desk and transformed back into a tape deck.

 _Elsewhere_

Washington, USA

It was around 4 O'clock in a small town in Washington. Outside of a coffee shop, a police man is sitting inside a police car. While he may seem, ordinary, this police man was a holographic projection. The car was in secret, an Autobot. The Autobot was busy analyzing some information, and soon began to contact someone.

"Ratchet, we need to talk."

"About?" Ratchet asked.

"I can't really generalize the topic, but you're one of the few I can trust."

"Very well, what do you want?"

"I've been taking a look at a police report, about a murder that happened yesterday."

"Yeah, and?"

"The report says that the man appears to be shot by a weapon of some sort, however there were no exit wounds on the body, just singe marks. Your thoughts?"

"Huh. Sounds like a laser is what inflicted the wounds. What of it?

"I'm not a complete expert on human firearms, but I am positive that they don't use lasers."

"Prowl, what are you getting at?" asked Ratchet, who sounded slightly irritated. Ratchet didn't have the patience to deal with Prowl's theories.

"I'm saying that Decepticons are behind this. This isn't the only murder that's been happening in this country. Multiple murders have been occurring and all of the people murdered where employees that work for Blackrock Enterprises. A company that we Autobots have taken quite the interest in."

"So you're saying the Decepticons are murdering humans? Why?"

"Two possible reasons. One, they've started to grow tiresome of looking for Autobot's to kill. Or two, they're interrogating Blackrock employees. Possibly to find a way to decrypt the same file we've been trying to, and I bet my boron processor its the latter. I've checked the employee manifest, and their are a few employees who live in this area."

"Hmm. Sounds serious. Should we alert Optimus?"

"Negative. If we get Prime involved, the situation will be made bigger than it has to be. I'll take it from here. Thanks for listening Ratchet."

Prowl terminated the communication, and proceeded to send out a signal to four different comm channels.

"Autobots this is Prowl. We suspect that Decepticon activity is occurring within the western United States. Remain on high alert, and report any suspicious activity! I repeat remain on high alert, and report any suspicious activity!"

The message was received by a pink motorcycle in Wyoming, a yellow muscle car in Oregon, a green swat truck in Arizona, and a red Lamborghini in California, all of which where bearing the same red insignia..


	4. A Perfectly Good Day

**Chapter 4 - A Prefectly Good Day**

July 15, 2017

Portland, Oregon

As the sun lowered on the horizon, and casted an orange hue onto the land, Bumblebee was slowly limping away from a recent battle. He gritted his teeth, and wiped the Energon from his mouth. He stared at the pink substance on his fingers and instantly remembered what happened. Not too long ago, he was in a brawl with Barricade. Barricade was known for his aggressiveness, and sometimes his violent tendencies would get he better of him. No one was around, and they were near a factory, so Barricade thought it would be fun to pick on the poor bot.

Bumblebee noticed that Barricade didn't use his buzzsaw. That meant that Enemy was out and about, and he was stirring up trouble. Well, at least Barricade didn't use the buzzsaw. But that didn't make the beating he received any less unbearable. Barricade was a tough fighter, and weilded a powerful baton to match.

Still, Bumblebee couldn't complain. His spark was still beating, and being alive counted for a lot these days. The pain quickly subsided. Bumblebee had gotten use to pain ever since Tyger Pax. He just transformed into his alt mode, and silently drove into a car dealership, and he parked. As the sun set, Bumblebee's auto repair systems initiated, and Bumblebee drifted into a nice stasis nap..

 _Elsewhere,_

Spike was lying in bed, with a shirt and basketball shorts on. He was on the phone with a friend of his.

"I just don't know what to do, Rad." said Spike. "Every time I try to approach her, I turn into a nervous wreck and breakdown like a raggedy, old car."

"Well, that's because you're doing it wrong, Spike. You've gotta find a way to get her attention." said Rad.

"How do I do that?" He asked.

"You've passed Drivers Ed, haven't you?" Rad asked.

"Yeah, why?" He replied

"What you need is a car! Chicks dig cars. Plus, your dad works as a part time auto mechanic! He'll definitely let you buy a car!"

"What makes you so sure? About girls and cars, I mean."

"Trust me, Spike. They don't call Rad White, Ladiesman217 for nothing."

"I hate it when you refer to yourself in third person. Anyway, I'll try it tomorrow. Thanks Rad,"

"See? Who would be without me, Spike?"

"Time to find out." Spike hung up the phone, and drifted off to sleep.

 _The Next Day_

July 16, 2017

Sparkplug was out in the garage about to work on another car, when Spike slowly walked out to the garage to talk to him.

"Dad, I wanted to ask you something." Spike said.

"Do you? Now is this you asking me something, or is this you asking me _for_ something?" asked Sparkplug.

"Uh, the second option." Spike replied.

"Well, what is it?" He asked.

"Dad, I wanted to have my own car. The family one is fine, but I wanted a car that was for me personally." Spike nervously asked.

After a few seconds, Sparkplug responded. "Well, it's about time!" He said,

"Excuse me?" Spike replied, confused.

"Spike, you are coming of age now, and I understand the importance of you wanting your own freedoms. I remember when I was a your age, asking my father the same thing. Plus, you didn't take Drivers Ed for nothing, did you?" Sparkplug said.

"Wow, um. Thanks, Dad." Spike said. Spike didn't think that Rad's advice would work, but he was definitely feeling optimistic.

"But, you know what I expect. With great power such as this, comes great responsibility. You're getting older, and you are going to have to be responsible for yourself from now one. I can't be there to bail you out if trouble. You need to make your own informed decisions and be accountable for your own actions." said Sparkplug.

"Sure thing, dad." Spike replied.

Spike and Sparkplug got inside the family car, and drove out to a dealership a few blocks away from their house.

As the car parked outside the dealership, Spike and Sparkplug got outside of the car. Meanwhile, in the car lot, Bumblebee was rebooting after his long stasis nap. Bumblebee looked around, and saw Spike and Sparkplug walking up to the car salesman. Upon further observation, Sparkplug seem to match the description of one of Blackrock's employees. Upon realization, Bumblebee sent a message to Prowl.

"Prowl, this is Bumblebee. I think I've spotted one of the Decepticon's high priority targets. I'll continue my analysis once I've got my confirmation. Bumblebee out."

Bumblebee kept quiet, as to not give away his position. The humans spent a few minutes checking out some of the cars in the lot, but none of them really appealed to Spike. Soon, Spike pointed at Bumblebee, indicating that car he was most interested in. The car salesman, Spike and Sparkplug walked over to car.

"How about this one." The salesman asked.

Spike glanced over at the yellow muscle car. For some odd reason, he preferred this one over the other cars in the lot.

"I'll take it." said Spike.

"Excellent! Come with me to fill out some papers, and the car is yours!" the salesman replied. Spike, Sparkplug and the salesman headed back inside, but not before Spike glanced over and smiled at what was about to be his new car.

Bumblebee didn't know what to think. Millions of thought files were racing through his neocortex. What if the humans found out the truth about him? What if Barricade found Bumblebee outside the human's place of residence and attacked him? Most important of all, what if the humans got their disgusting fluids on his brand new leather seats? Despite all of this, Bee knew he had to remain calm.

 _The Following Day,_

June 17, 2017

Sparkplug was out at work, so Spike decided to give his car a test run. Carly would usually go jogging at the park at two o' clock, and would start to head home at four. Spike, being quite "observant" knew this. Carly's house was a bit far from the park, so Spike thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to talk to her.

Spike went into the garage and grabbed the key and opened up the door. A bee themed air freshener was inside the car. Spike inhaled and took in the new car smell. He got in and put the keys into the ignition. The cars engines started humming smoothly. Spike put his hands on the wheel, and was about to drive out, but before he did, he remembered what his father told him last night. The usual "with great power comes great responsibility" speech.

Spike then opened the garage door with the remote, and drove out and closed the garage door, as he pulled out of the driveway. As Spike drove away. Enemy was spying on Spike through the window. Barricade had sent him footage of his fight with Bumblebee, and Enemy instantly recognized the Autobot. Wanting to start up some mischief, Enemy contacted Barriacde.

"Barricade, this is Enemy. Now, get a load of this!"

The Park

It was around four o' clock and Carly was texting some of her friends in her phone. She then put the phone in her pocket, picked up her backpack. She wore a light blue tank top and jogging pants. Her backpack was black and light blue. Carly began walking out of the park, when she saw a yellow muscle car pull up to the side of the curb. The window rolled down, and she saw Spike in the driver seat.

"Carly, do you need a ride?" he asked. Carly was surprisingly. She normally saw Spike using his father's car. Carly didn't question it, and she walked over to the car.

"Spike, is this car yours?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, I just bought it." He replied.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind." She said.

She walked over to the other side of the car, and Spike opened the door for her. She put her backpack in the backseat, and Spike drove off.

"So, uh, nice car." Carly said.

Spike didn't know how to respond. He never thought he would make it this far.

"Uh, thanks." Spike tried to make the situation less awkward by starting a conversation. "So, how is your project coming along!"

"Pretty nicely." She said.

"So, have you decided what you want to major in?"

"Yeah. Robotics or chemistry. One of the two." She replied.

"Really, I wanted to major in robotics too." Spike responded

Carly had an idea of where this was going. She was aware that Spike had the hots for her.

"Are you saying that because you want to relate to me, or are you being geniuine?" She asked.

"I'm serious! I've wanted to major in robotics ever since I was a kid." He replied.

"Oh, that's cool." She said.

"Maybe I could help you with your project." He awkwardly suggested.

Carly wasn't sure. She didn't want anything too crazy to happen, but she knew that doing the project by herself would take up the whole summer.

"I'll take you up on that offer." she said.

"So, uh what time should I come over?" He asked.

"We'll meet at your place." she answered.

"Ok, cool. What time?"

"Noon." She responded

"Ok, sounds good!" Spikes heart was beating a thousand times a second. The rest of the drive home was mostly quiet. Spike pulled up to Carly's house and he opened the door for you.

"See you tomorrow, Spike!" she said, while waving.

"See ya!" He said while waving back. As Carly used her key to open the door, Spike started driving home.

"I love this car." He said while driving. He never thought that Rad's advice would actually work. The drive home was quite satisfying for Spike to say the least. Spike thought that there was nothing that could ruin his good day.

 _Later that night._

It was a little bit after midnight, and Spike had just went to bed. The house was completely quiet. Soon, a blonde woman slowly crept into the living room. She looked around and made her way upstairs. She saw the door to Sparkplug's room. Instead of opening it, she phased through it. She crept over to Sparkplug's dresser, and grabbed his wallet. She looked inside and found his business card. That was the confirmation she needed. She soon disappeared into thin air.

Downstairs in the garage, the car's engine automatically turned on. Spike who was half awake, heard it. He jolted out of bed, put some sweatpants on, and went outside to see what was happening. He walked into the garage, and saw the garage door was opened, and the blonde woman was inside of his car.

It took Spike a while to process what was going on, but he soon realized that his car was being stolen. The car pulled out of the drive way, and Soike decided to chase after it.

"Hey, stop!!!" He yelled. He quickly got on his bike and chased down the thief. The car was outpacing Spike, but thanks to the car's tail lights, Spike could easily follow it. The car drove past a rail road crossing and rammed into a gate with barbed wire on the top, and drove into the factory. Spike tried to catch up, to it, but a train was passing by, forcing Spike to skid to a stop. After 30 seconds, the train passed, and the car was making its way inside the factory. Spike got off the bike and ran past the railroad crossing and the gate.

The car then parked itself outside the factory. Spike slowly crept around the corner, and saw the car. He didn't make a sound. He saw the car turn it's head and tail lights off and then it emitted a sound.

"TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE"

The car began shifting into a tall, 20 foot alien robot. Spike stared in awe at what we happening he didn't know if it was a dream of if it was real. The robot looked around to make sure no one was there. It didn't see Spike. The robot then pressed a button on the side of its head.

"Prowl, this is Bumblebee. I have found one of Blackrock's Employees, and I have confirmation." he said.

Spike was consfused. He couldn't understand the alien. The alien spoke in beeps and boops.

"Excellent work, Bumblebee. Stay put, and await further orders."

"Sure thing Prowl, but look. The Decepticons are a class 4 emergency. Are you sure we shouldn't contact Optimus Prime?"

"We don't need to drag Prime into this Bumblebee. The less the Decepticons know about his continued existence, the better. You have your orders, understand?"

"I read you loud and clear Prowl." Bumblebee said as he terminated the communication. He then sighed and muttered to himself "You can be a real gearshift, you know that Prowl?" Bumblebee was about to turn around. Spike didn't know what to do except run, and that's what he did. He ran as fast as he can, grabbed his bike and rode it all the way home. He took an alternate route to avoid being caught by the robot. As Spike rode, he knew that something had ruined his good day...


	5. Man in the Machine

**Chapter 5 - Man in the Machine**

Portland, Oregon

July 17, 2017

The sun rose once more on a warm summer morning. It was around 9 o'clock that Spike began to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes, and look around. He sat upright, and scanned the entire room. All seemed to be normal. Spike slumped out of bed and began his daily activities as usual. He walked down to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He took a quick 15 minute shower, and went downstairs to eat breakfast. Sparkplug was at work, so Spike was by himself.

He poured himself a bowl of cereal, grabbed the milk cartoon, and began eating. When finished he walked into the garage and saw his car. He instantly remembered what had happened the previous night. He didn't know whether his car was secretly out to get him, but he was not willing to take any chances. He just walked back inside, and left out the front door.

Spike had was walking at a steady pace, until all of a sudden, he heard the garage door open. He turned around and saw his car drive out the garage and out of the street, Alarmed, Spike began walking faster, until he was at a jogging pace. The car kept following after him. At this point, Spike's fears were coming true. The car was after him, and who knows what it wanted with him. Spike kept moving until he started running.

He took a turn on of the blocks, and dashed towards Main Sreet. He wasn't the most athletic person, but he didn't want to find out what would happen if the car caught up with him. He saw the car following behind him. He began sprinting. Some of the people who were on the sidewalk gave him a weird look, wondering why he was running. Spike looked back to make sure he was outpacing the car, but all of a sudden he crashed right into Carly, sending her and her stuff to the ground.

"Oh, crap! I am so, so sorry!" Spike said, panicking.

"Ouch." Carly whined. Spike extended his hand and helped her up. He looked down at their cloths and saw that her iced coffee had spilled all over her dress. Spike reached down to help her pick up her things, but he heard a loud honk. He jolted his head, and saw the yellow car. He panicked even more and ran off.

"Sorry Carly, I gotta go, bye!!" He said hurriedly while running away. Carly got up, and looked at the mess Spike caused. She sighed and face palmed. She reached down to pick up her things. Carly wasn't too mad about it, but she did want to know why he was in such a hurry. She picked up her things, and ran after him.

Spike kept running, and he dashed into a parking lot, and he looked behind him to see if the car was there. The car was no where to be seen, but he tripped on some of the cracked ground, and he was sent toppling over. Spike collapsed onto the floor, with a hard thud. He slowly got himself, but saw a police style Ford Mustang. The Mustang slowly approached him, while its engine roared, sending shivers down Spike's signs.

It was close to running over Spike, casuing the boy to cry out in fear.

"Ahhhhhh!!!" Screamed Spike. His heart was beating faster and faster. As soon as his screams stopped, the front of the car jutted out, revealing some kind of futuristic scanning equipment. It scanned Spike and analyzed all of his biological data, and his data aligned with the files the car possesed on Spike. The scanning equipment retracted back inside of the car, and the car emitted a sound.

"TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE!"

The car had rearranged its composition into a tall, black robot, with red beady eyes that stared right through Spike. It growled and bared its teeth. Spike shrieked in horror, got up, and ran away from it as quickly as possible. The robot began chasing after him, and pulled out a laser pistol, and fired at the ground near Spike's feet causing him to fly onto the wind shield of a car. Spike tried to get up, but the robot towered over him, and aimed his fist at him. People stared in shock at what was happening. Some people got out their smartphones and began recording.

"By the order of the Decepticon Star Empire, you have the right to remain silent! Anything you say or do will be held against you in a court of law! You have the right to an attorney! If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you! Do you understand these rights I have given you!? It asked.

Spike didn't know what to say. His heart was pounding, and he was racing to find the right words.

"I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THESE RIGHTS I HAVE GIVEN YOU?!?" It yelled. The robot had lost its patience and was about to punch Spike, but Spike dodged the punch and ran, causing the robot's fist to crash through the windshield and get stuck inside of it.

Spike ran for his life, as the robot tried to get the car off its hand. Losing its patience, he took out a laser blaster, and blew the car to smithereens, sending fire and debris flying everywhere. He tossed the car to the ground, and chased after Spike. Spike ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He looked in the distance, and he saw Carly running towards him.

"Turn around!" Spike yelled out to her, while gesturing her to about face. She didn't understand what was going on, but she saw the robot chasing him from behind. She complied with Spike's orders, turned around and ran. The robot was catching up to them but suddenly, yellow car drove out of an alleyway, and swerved causing Barricade to trip and fall over. The car, drove in front of Spike and Carly, and the door opened. The blonde woman from the night before was inside the car.

"Get in!" She said.

Spike and Carly were confused. They turned around, and saw the black robot getting up. Without hesitation, they both got inside of the car. The woman put her foot on the gas pedal, and drove off.

"Oh no, you don't." The black robot mumbled. It transformed back into vehicle mode and drove after them.

"Who are you?" Carly asks dthe blonde woman.

"As infuriating as this may sound, there is no time to explain." She said.

"No, I demand answers!" She replied.

"Fine! The guy back there is called Barricade. He's a Decepticon, and he's out to get you two! Happy?" The woman replied, slightly perturbed

Carly was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to respond to that explanation.

The woman drove the car onto the freeway in an attempt to lose the police car. The police car followed after them, but was obscured by traffic. The yellow car drove forward. The police car, found an opening between two trucks, and drove between them. He caught up to the yellow car, and began bashing into it.

Spike felt it and turned around, and saw Barricade chasing them.

"Uh, I don't like to rush people, but hurry up!" He said.

Barricade drove up to the side of them, and began bashing the car.

"Do something, or we're gonna die!" Carly cried out.

"It's not like there is much I can do without being seen!" She replied.

With one more hefty bash, Barricade sent the yellow car pass the railing, and off of the freeway. Spike and Carly where shrieking in horror, while holding on to each other for dear life. However, the car began to emit a sound, and its parts began rearranging, into a twenty foot tall yellow robot. The robot grabbed Spike and Carly, and combat rolled onto the ground. Bumblebee set the humans down, and stood up to confront Barricade.

Barricade transformed and jumped off of the free way, and into the train yard.

"Come back for round two, bug?" Barricade taunted.

"Stuff it, motor-breath! Leave the humans out of this. Our war doesn't concern them!" Bumblebee exclaimed

"Well, my master said that they have use to us, and my Lord and savior's word is LAW!!!" Barricade bellowed. Barricade ran towards Bumblebee, and tackled him, causing both of them to crash into a train. Spike and Carly ran out of the way, and dashed for cover. They could only help but watch the clash unfold.

"I'm gonna tear out your transformation cog, and force feed it to ya!" Barricade yelled. "Then, I'm gonna skin you alive, just Lord Megatron did at Tyger Pax! Then, then..

Before Barricade could finish his threats, Bumblebee deployed his battle mask and visor. "That's your problem, Barricade..."

Bumblebee kicked Barricade, and delivered a powerful jab to Barricade's jaw. "...you talk too much!"

Spike and Carly were confused. They could understand the black robot just fine, but the only thing they heard the yellow say were beeps and blips. The two robots kept fighting. Barricade slammed Bumblebee into a shed, and kept punching the Autobot. Bumblebee winced in pain, and when Barricade was about to throw another punch, Bumblebee rolled out of the way. Bumblebee knew that he couldn't beat Barricade in hand to hand combat, so he transformed and sped off.

"Don't you dare turn your back to me!!" Barricade yelled out. He transformed after Bumblebee. They drove on the tracks for a while, until they came up to a power generator. Bumblebee transformed and quickly examined it. He had came up with a plan, but he had to get the timing right to do it. Barricade drove up to Bee and transformed.

"So, now you have the ball bearings to face me! Well, what are you waiting for? BRING IT!!! Barricade howled.

"If only your fighting was as good as your threats Barricade, then I'd actually be scared!" Bumblebee taunted.

Barricade roared at the Autobot, took a running start and lunged at him. As Barricade flew through they air, Bumblebee quickly darted away from the power generator, causing Barricade to smash into it. Barricade landed face first into the generator, cashing him to be electrocuted by powerful volts, that surged throughout his body. The Decepticon screamed in agony as he was in immense pain. Bumblebee turned his hand into a plasma cannon, and fired a bolt of plasma, causing the generator to catch fire and explode.

Bumblebee put his hands in front of his face to protect himself from the flying debris. Bumblebee was sure that Barricade was injured if not killed. He turned around and ran back to go find the humans. He ran up to Spike and Carly, both of whom couldn't do anything, but stare in awe, with their mouths agape, at the sight of the massive machine.

Bumblebee knew he couldn't communicate verbally with the humans. He gestured for them to getaway as fast as possible. With that, Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode, and drove off. Spike and Carly got up from their hiding spot, and started to run home.

 _Later that night_

Washington, USA

It was a long drive home for Bumblebee. He thought to himself. Now that the humans had gotten involved in the Transformer's war, he had to tell Optimus Prime. Bee didn't care what Prowl thought. He knew that lives were at stake, and that was good enough motivation for him. Bumblebee drove up to the side of Mt. St. Hillary.

Imbedded in the mountain was a crashed space ship, designed to hold 300 Transformers. Cloaking shields, had kept the ship undetected. Bumblebee approached the entrance, and drove inside. He drove into a room with a large scanner. The scanner scanned Bee's Autobot insignia, and the doors slid open. Bumblebee drove inside of the ship, and transformed. He was inside one of the hallways and walked over to the elevator. As he turned the corner, a floating drone was their to greet him.

"Greetings, Bumblebee." The drone said.

"Hey, DD. I'm just going to speak with Optimus. It's urgent. Tell Ratchet I said hello, OK?" Bumblebee replied to the drone.

The drone nodded in acknowledgment, and floated away. Bumblebee liked how Wheeljack programmed the Diagnostic Drone with a personality. Bumblebee enjoyed the extra company. Bumblebee typed on a keypad, causing the elevator doors to open. He walked in, and pressed the button leading to the top floor. After ascending multiple floors, Bumblebee walked out of the elevator, and down the hallway to the bridge. In the bridge were two Autobots.

The first one, Prowl, was leaning against the wall, with his arms folded and a solemn look on his face. The other bot, was tall, red and blue. He was looking at a data pad. Bumblebee walked over to the tall, red robot. The red robot heard Bumblebee's foot steps, and acknowledged the young scout.

"Bumblebee, is there something you wish to talk about?" He asked.

Bumblebee took a second to think, and he looked over at Prowl with a worried expression. Prowl glanced over at Bee, while still maintaining his stern look.

"Yes, Optimus." Bumblebee responded, reluctantly.

"Very well. Speak your peace." Optimus said, almost melancholically.

Bumblebee, felt his spark beat faster. After a few seconds of hesitation, he spoke. "Optimus, I have confirmation that the Decepticons have been active, and they are targeting humans, sir!"

Optimus was alarmed. Despite this, he maintained his level headedness. "Hmm. How long have you known about this?"

"A few solar cycles, sir." Bumblebee replied.

"Why didn't you notify me sooner?" Optimus asked.

Bumblebee felt a bad feeling deep in his t-cog. He glanced over at Prowl, and thought about what would happen if told Prime. However, Bumblebee knew he had to tell the truth.

"Because, Prowl wanted me and the others to keep quiet about." Bumblebee said.

"Is this true, Prowl?" Optimus asked.

Prowl hesitated to speak. "Yes, but I had good reason. If you got involved, then the Decepticons would have had conformation of your continued existence. I kept it a secret because it shouldn't be been blown out of proportion." Prowl said, firmly.

"Decepticons are a class 4 emergency, Prowl. You know this! We should've told Optimus." Bee said, while pointing at Prowl.

"It's not like they had Conclave members attacking humans!" Prowl said in retaliation. "They were grunts, lowly soldiers. Nothing to worry about. Now that we've gotten involved more humans have gotten in danger."

"Maybe they would have stayed out of danger, if you followed protocol!" Bee exclaimed.

"What do you know about following protocol?" Prowl asked while raising his voice,

"Enough!" Prime exclaimed. He was loud enough to get both of them to stop. "Right now, we mustn't shift blame. Innocent lives are at stake." Optimus turned to Bumblebee. "Bumblebee, you are to have a report typed up within the cycle. Once you have finished, I'll review it. Once reviewed, you will gather the humans, and bring them here. I wish to speak with them. Understood?"

"I understand, sir." Bumblebee replied. He walked out of the bridge. Prowl was about to walk out as well, before Prime stopped him, by placing his hand in his shoulder, which caught Prowl by surprise.

"It's not the tables fault." Optimus said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Prowl asked.

"Exactly what it means." Prime said. Prowl then stormed out of the bridge, leaving Optimus to his own devices..


	6. First Impressions

**Sorry if this one is a bit late, guys. I've barely had much time to work on this one.**

 **An unflipped table, does not a Prowl make.**

 **Chapter 6 - First Impressions**

July 18, 2017

It was warm the next morning. Spike had slowly waken up, and he felt terrible. His back ached, his forehead was in pain, and he could barely open his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked around. He peered out of the window, and saw a few people walking outside. He believed that all was normal. He left out of the room, and walked towards the bathroom, blissfully unaware of the fact that he was being watched.

While he was brushing his teeth, he thought to himself. Was what happened last night real? Was it a dream? Were those robots built by the government? Were they real life aliens form outer space? All these thoughts gave Slike another headache. He was up all night, tossing and turning pondering about what happened. He tried to read a dictionary in an effort to fall asleep, but he just couldn't help but think about those robots.

Spike finished brushing. He took a quick shower, threw on some cloths and slowly walked towards the garage to see if the car was still there. He placed his hand on the doorknob, afraid of what would happen next. The car knew that he knew of its existence. Now that he did, would the car say anything to him? Spike swallowed his fears, and went into the garage, surprised to see that the car wasn't there. His heart started racing, but he soon felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He reached down and saw that Chip had texted him, asking to meet up at the coffee shop on Ashland. Spike agreed, and left out of the house.

The walk to Ashland street was around seven minutes. Spike had hung his head low, not making eye contact with anyone. He took a right, and saw the coffee shop, and begins to head towards it. He was still silently reflecting about what had happened last night. He didn't know what to think. Was it possible that a race of car changing robots have silently integrated with society, and have been fighting a war in secret? He couldn't help but think of the Gobots. Spike put his thoughts in the back of his mind. He reached the coffe shop, and peered into the window. He saw that Sari, Chip and Carly were all sitting at the same table. Spike walked inside of the shop, and slumped down next to them.

Sari immediately took notice of his posture and expression, and knew that something was up. Spike was never this tired.

"Dude, you look like crap." Sari said jokingly.

"I feel like it too." Spike groggily replied.

"What happened, did you not get any sleep? Too busy fidgeting with those dolls of yours? Sari asked while grinning.

"Not funny." Spike said sternly

Soon a loud honk came from outside the shop the loud. The honk snapped him out of his tired state, and he jolted his head to the window, seeing the yellow muscle car from before and the blonde woman inside of it. Spike felt an unseasonably feeling in his gut. He slowly got up, and walked outside of the shop, and over to the car. As he walked out, Chip and Sari silently wondered were he was going and why, but Carly knew good and well who that woman, no, who that car was.

Spike walked up to the window of the car.

"You, me, Alley. Now." She said.

Spike reluctantly nodded. He walked into the alleyway, and the car followed behind him. The buildings were just big enough to obscure both of them from the naked eye. Spike turned around, and saw the car transform into Bumblebee. Bumblebee crouched down so he could speak with the humans.

"Listen, we need to talk." Bumblebee said, only this time, Spike could understand him. There was a bit of static in Bumblebee's voice,

"Oh, so you speak now?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's a private communication frequency created by Whe-, my err-best friend." Bumblebee said. "Look, I-

"I get it, I get it. You don't want me to tell anybody about your existence. I've watched Gobots, I know how this works. I won't say anything if you leave me alone." Spike said while turning and crossing his arms.

"Listen, Spike, is it? You are one of the few. Extremely small few who know of our existence. A dark presence wants to terrorize your world, and no one else on your planet will see it coming. But now that you have seen what they're capable of, you do see it coming. That's why Optimus Prime wishes to speak with you.

"Optimum who now?" Spike asked while turning his head and raising his eyebrow.

"Look. They are targeting you and your father. If you want to know the truth, and if you want to keep him safe, you have to come with me." Bumblebee said. Before Spike could think about it, he heard Sari yelling at him.

"Are you brain dead? Don't give up the chance to get away from this dull and boring life!" She said. Carly and Chip were with her, and they both saw Bumblebee.

"Oh, scrap." Bumblebee uttered.

 _Hours later,_

Washington

Bumblebee was driving along an open road, with Spike, Carly, Sari and Chip inside. It was fairly quiet, and the only thing in the distance were huge cliff faces, and dance forests.

"Alright kids, lets go over some ground rules." Bumblebee said.

"Kids? Ground Rules? Dude, I'm seventeen, I don't need a babysitter," Sari said, while crossing her arms. Sari always had a bit of a disdain for authority.

"What's seventeen compared to seven million?" Bumblebee asked. Sari wasn't able to come up with any witty rebuttal. She just sat there, slightly irritated.

"Rule one: Seatbelts on, and keep all limbs inside the vehicle. Rule two: No food and or drink while inside an Autobot, with water being the only exception. That goes for fluids as well. I've seen what you humans do while inside cars. The others won't like it if you get stains all over their chassis." Bumblebee said.

"Others?" Carly mumbled.

"Rule 3: You can browse and watch whatever you want on the backseat monitors. However, some content will be blocked. What content is blocked is up to the Autobot's discretions. We clear?" Bumblebee asked.

They all nodded in acknowledgment. Then, Bumblebee began to increase his speed, not wanting to spend anymore time out in the open. He soon drove up to a mountainside, and into the large orange space ship that was embedded in it. The humans stared at the massive spectacle. They hadn't seen anything like it. Bumblebee drove into the scanner room, but to his surprise, the scanner was disabled. In it's stead was a tall red robot, with two massive canons on each arm.

"Prime's waitin' for ya, Bumblebee." The robot said.

"Thanks, Ironhide." Bee replied. Ironhide pressed a button on his wrist, causing the doors to open. Bumblebee drove inside the ship, and all the way down to the a large room with a circular steel frame against one of the walls, In the room were multiple monitors and computers. At the computer was a tall white and red robot. Floating next to him wasnthr Diagnostic Drone that Bumblebee spoke to yesterday. Ratchet glanced down at Bumblebee, and took notice of the humans. Bee looked around, and saw Optimus Prime leaning against the wall, awaiting Bumblebee's arrival. Bumblebee opened his doors, and let the kids out. One they were all out, Bumblebee transformed and saluted at Optimus.

"At ease, Bumblebee." Optimus said. He walked over to the humans, and crouched down to greet the humans. They all felt insignificant compared to the massive metal marvel that stood before them.

"You must be the humans Bumblebee told me about." Optimus glanced over at Bee. "He told me there were only two of you."

Spike began to get nervous. What if this bot's high maintenance? Or had a bad temper? Spike didn't want to embarrass himself and leave a bad first impression.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Optimus Prime. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the Planet Cybertron."

"Cut the scrap with the nomenclature, Prime!"

Optimus turned and saw a smaller red robot, around Bumblebee's height with small horns on his head walking over to the humans.

"You squishies can call us, Autobots." he said with a gruff expression. Cliffjumper was an angst ridden bot. His trigger happy nature and bad attitude put him at odds with some of his comrades.

"A little respect wouldn't extinguish your spark, Cliffjumper." Optimus said. Prime didn't have any quarrels with Cliffjumper's irreverence. He was fairly lenient about it. He turned his attention back to the humans.

"As Cliffjumper said, we are Autobots."

"So if you come from another planet, then why are you here?" Carly asked.

"We are here to protect your world from the Decepticon Star Empire." Optimus said.

"The what, empire?" Spike asked.

"The Decepticons are a political party who wish to bring peace to the galaxy. Their idea of peace, is the utter extinction of all organic life, and the dominance of anything that they deem "weaker" than them. Now, they have your world in their sights. We have been at war for millions of years."

"Why were you guys at war?" Chip asked. Chip thought in his mind that was a stupid question. He didn't want to chase the robots any grief. But then he thought about it some more. They're robots. They don't have feelings. They wouldn't grieve over a war if that's what they were made to do.

"Young boy, I often ask myself that question. It is a long, tragic tale filled with madness, and death, but I shall keep it as brief as possible. Cybertron was once a planet rich with energy. We lived in peace and harmony, but a clash in ideologies split our kind into two factions. Our war carried on for centuries, and Cybertron was drained of all life, prompting us to scatter across the cosmos. Now that the Decepticons have targeted your world, they must be stopped." Optimus said.

"Well, if it's such a problem, then why don't we just contact the military?" asked Spike.

"Your world's military strength is not strong enough to defeat the Decepticons. We are the only ones who can stop them." Optimus said.

Spike looked down, grimly. Optimus then stood up, making the humans feel even smaller than before.

"Now then, let's continue our introductions." Optimus turned to Bumblebee.

"You've already met, Bumblebee. He's our espionage agent." Optimus said while gesturing towards him. Optimus then pointed towards the white and red Autobot who was operating the computers.

"This is our chief medical officer, Ratchet."

"If you are robots, then how do you guys get sick?" Sari asked.

Ratchet scoffed at such an amateurish question. "Oh pul-lease!" Ratchet turned around and looked down at the humans. "We Autobots are made of a living metal that can be infected by deadly cyber pathogens. Not that you would know anything about that!"

"Hey, don't you test me, mister!" Sari was getting into an attitude, as she usually did when people talked down to her. Spike and Carly quickly got in front of Sari to try and ease the tension between her and Ratchet.

Another red robot who was leaning on against the door, couldn't help but laugh. Spike and the others turned to him.

"Who's that?" Spike asked.

"This is Sideswipe, one of our warriors." Prime said.

"You humans seem alright. Just watch the finish, and we'll be cool." Sideswipe said.

Optimus then gestured towards the red Autobot who was standing guard from before. "This is our security officer, Ironhide."

"Alright kids. We're gonna haveta get yourselves some identification. Teletraan hasn't yet been programmed to distinguish y'all from Decepticons, after the intro dump is done, come talk to me." Ironhide said.

Optimus gestured towards Prowl and Jazz who just walked in the room. "These are my officers, Prowl and Jazz." Optimus said.

Prowl just looked down at the humans and scoffed. Jazz however took quite the interest in them.

"What's cookin', good lookins? This planet Earth of yours seems like a real cool place to kick it! Jazz exclaimed.

Chip was confused again. How would the mess aliens know of urban dialect? "How'd you learn to talk like that?" He asked.

"We have been on your planet for sometime now. We have been observing your planet's cultures and languages. Jazz has taken a liking to exploring your world's many traditions." Optimus replied.

Optimus then pointed over to two more Autobots. One large and green, the other was small and pink.

"Some more of our warriors, Bulkhead and Arcee. They are relatively new to his team." Prime said.

Bulkhead and Arcee waved at the humans. They nervously waved back. Chip was even more confused then before. "Why were there female style robots?" He wondered to himself. He didn't comment on it, because he didn't want to upset anyone.

"Next we have Cliffjumper." Optimus said while looking back at Cliff.

"Now then. Who are the stowaways?" Cliffjumper asked while pulling out two blasters and aimed that at the humans. The kids didn't know what to do. They thought these robots were passive.

"Cliffjumper!" Optimus said while crossing his arms. Ratchet snaked Cliffjumper upside the head.

"Ow, fine. Yeesh. Just wanted to make sure that the squished know their place." He said. Cliffjumper walked out of the room.

Rathchet sighed and nodded his head. "Stupid kid." He mumbled.

"And If I'm not mistaken that should be-

Optimus was cut off by a powerful explosion that shook the ark. The Autobots rusher out of the room, to see a thick cloud of smoke coming from down the hallway. They saw a figure walking out of the smoke. They drew their blasters in case the figure was hostile, but once he figure came out of the smoke, they knew what had happened.

"It's times like these I wish the Protectobots handy!" Said a white robot who was coughing. The robot had facial features designed to look like a mustache.

Chip was confused once more. Why would a robot have a mustache, and why would they be coughing?

"For Primus' sake, Wheeljack! How many times is this gonna happen?" Prowl asked.

"What can I say, more interest in engineering can be quite. . . explosion inducing."

"This is our mechanical engineer, Wheeljack." Optimus said.

"Well, I wasn't aware that we'd be having guests. I haven't even cleaned up the workshop." Wheeljack said.

"Now that introductions are out of way, we can discuss the reason we are all here. Autobots meet me in the war room in a few nanokliks.

 _Five minutes later_

The humans were standing on the war table, while Optimus Prime was sitting behind them, waiting for the others to arrive. The rest of the Autobots came in, with Sideswipe coming in one minute late.

"Let us begin." Optimus said. "We have been monitoring a company known as Blackrock Enterprises. They have an encrypted file, that we believe could be of great use to our cause. Thanks to Prowl's detective work, we have learned that both Spike and Sari's male parental figures work for this company."

"Excuse me, but how did you find this out?" Spike asked. "For privacy reasons, I mean."

"We hacked into their database and found their employee manifest. Bumblebee suspected that your father worked for the company, and took an image of your father's business card to confirm it, using his holomatter avatar."

"Holomatter?" Carly asked.

"It's a special program created by an old friend of mine named Hound. It allows a Transformer to reject a holographic image that adapts to a certain species. We use them to get into places we normally can't." said Wheeljack, who was now wearing a faceplate.

"Spike we believe that your father can decrypt this file. We are not the only ones that are after him. The Decepticons are targeting him as well. If you do this for us, we would be grateful." Optimus said.

"So where do we start?" Spike asked.

The Autobots and humans went back into the room they were in previous. Ratchet had picked Spike up, and placed him on one of the computers.

"The ground bridge is a device designed by me and Wheeljack. It is a scaled down version of space bridge technology that is designed to transport people and objects anywhere on this planet." Said Ratchet. "All you have to do is enter the coordinates."

Spike typed the coordinates to his house into the computer. Ratchet then pulled a lever, causing a bluish green vortex to appear within the steel frame.

"So can this ground bridge transport humans?" Carly asked.

"In theory." said Wheeljack.

"What do you mean in theory?" She asked. "Has it not been tested before?"

"It has!"

"When?"

"Right now." Wheeljack said.

"Autobots, transform!" All of the Autobots transformed into heir vehicle modes. All of the humans got inside of Bulkhead, seeing as how he was the biggest.

"Ratchet, you and Wheeljack remain here." Optimus said. "Now let's roll out!" The Autobots except for Ratchet and Wheeljack drove into to vortex and came out on the other side..


	7. Showdown

**Chapter 7 - Showdown**

July 18, 2017

The moon shown bright in the inky blue sky. There was almost an eerie silence in the neighborhood that Spike lived in. Everyone was in their houses, drifting off into sleep, leaving nobody out on the street.

This silence was interrupted by a blueish green portal that emerged on the street that Spike lived on. Out of it drove several vehicles. A tractor trailer, a muscle car, a Lamborghini, a pick up truck, a motorcycle, a red Dodge Challenger and a SWAT truck drove out of the portal and parked at the side of the road.

There was a banging coming from the inside of the SWAT truck, and the back doors flew open, with Spike, Chip, Carly and Sari hopping out while gasping for air. Chip was close to throwing up.

"Ugh, my hands feel like they're where my legs are supposed to be." Spike groaned while clutching his head. He soon got his bearings and looked around and saw his house with the porch light on. Spike ran up to his house, and used his keys to unlock the door, and open it. Little did the humans know, they were being watched by Enemy who was silently observing them from the window. He scanned the vehicles parked along the curb, and recognized them as Autobots. He nearly panicked, but he kept his cool. He reached into his comm link and sent a message.

"Megatron, this Enemy. I have sights on the humans. Get over here quick, the Autobots aren't too far behind. Enemy, out!" He said, while continuing to spy on them.

As soon as Spike opened the door, his father rushed downstairs, and sighed a breath of relief when he saw his son standing in the doorway. He ran over, and hugged his son tightly.

"Spike, thank goodness, you're Ok! You had me worried sick! I called all of the neighbors, and the police!" He said.

"Well, I'm back now, and.." Spike started to get nervous. Could he possibly tell his father that alien robots where waiting outside, and wanted to speak with him? "Dad, we need to talk." Spike said reluctantly.

"What about?" He asked.

Spike felt a bad feeling deep in his gut. He swallowed around, and his eyes darted around nervously. "Look, it's kinda hard to explain but-

Spike was cut off by a loud bang. Spike and Sparkplug rushed outside and heard police sirens. They saw a police style Ford Mustang and a gray motorcycle driving towards them. They heard multiple booms and looked up to see five jets flying in the sky above. As the police car neared them, Spike squinted to get a better look at the car. Upon recognizing it, feeling went from bad, to ultimately worse.

It was Barricade from the day before.

Barricade and the motorcycle. transformed, and aimed their blasters at Spike and Sparkplug. The motorcycle had a build similar to Arcee's. She was gray and black and had a ninja like mask. This was Nightbird.

"Run!" Spike shouted. Spike and Sparkplug ran for cover. Barricade and Nightbird fired, and their laser blasts hit the porch, sending some broken pottery and dirt flying everywhere.

"Autobots, protect the humans!" Optimus said. The Autobots transformed into robot mode, and prepared to battle the incoming foes. The jets from above started firing missiles at the Autobots, prompting them to scatter in all different directions. The missiles sent debris flying through the air.

The humans darted towards Spike's house, but Enemy jumped out of the window and landed in front of them, and aimed a small blaster at them, causing the humans to stop in their tracks.

"Move one inch, and I'll fry ya like a scraplet!" Enemy threatened.

The Autobots tried to recuperate from the first attack, but Barricade and Nightbird began firing at them. Four of the jets transformed and landed in front of the Autobots, and aimed their machine guns at them.

They were Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and a new one. This new Decepticon had a sleeker, and curved build, resembling that of a female. She had a real and purple color scheme. This was Slipstream.

"Prepare to meet your demise, Autobots!" Starscream tauned The Decepticons began firing at the Autobots, forcing them back.

"Autobots, take cover and return fire!" Optimus ordered. The Autobots deployed their blasters and fired back at the Decepticons. Some of them were even picking up cars, and using them as cover. A huge firefight broke out, and many people were coming out of their houses to see what was the commotion. It was dark, and the gunshots and explosions were coming from every direction. People were too scared to go out and investigate. Both factions were stalemated.

As they continued firing, the fifth jet flew down at the Autobots, transformed, and slammed a powerful mace onto the ground, creating a shockwave that sent the Autobots and a few cars flying. The Decepticon behind this maneuver was taller than anyone else on the battlefield, and he had a glowing red eye.

"Your days are numbered, Autobot scum! You shall bow down to our lord and master, or you shall be put to death!" He bellowed.

The Autobots slowly got up and stood their ground. They continued firing at the Decepticon. Their combined firepower overwhelmed the Decepticon, sending him toppling down. The Autobots believed they had the upper hand, until multiple explosions went off around them, obscuring their vision. Powerful gusts of wind shook the trees, and caused dust to scatter. The Autobots covered their faces with their arms, but Optimus stood his ground. He looked up in shock.

Descending from above was a large, silver robot with a massive cannon mounted on his arm. It was Megatron.

Megatron slowly descended and his feet landed firmly on the ground, towering over the Autobots.

"Optimus Prime. I should've known you would be the first to stand in my way." Megatron growled.

"Whatever you are doing Megatron, stop it! Leave the humans out of this. This isn't their war!" Optimus yelled.

"I'm afraid they've already been drafted into our war, Prime." Megatron said. "Now stand aside, while I make off with my prize!"

Megatron aimed his fusion cannon, and fired two warning shots at Optimus, to disorient him. Megatron walked over to the humans and snatched up Sparkplug.

"Ahhh, put me down you, you beast!" Sparkplug yelled while flailing his arms around in an attempt to get free.

"Stop flailing, before I crush you into pulp!" Megatronh bellowed.

"Autobots, stop him!" Optimus ordered. The Autobots deployed their weapons and unleashed all of their firepower on Megatron, but their laser fire was not enough to stop him. Megatron's armor was too dense to be penetrated.

"I tire of these interruptions." Megatron grumbled. He turned to the large robot with the red eye. "Lugnut, finish this for me! Decepticons, return to headquarters!"

"As you command, oh glorious leader! Lugnut replied, giddy with glee. He transformed his hand into a pressure pad, and slammed it on the ground, creating a shockwave so powerful that it created a huge crater.

Lugnut and the rest of the Decepticons transformed. Those on wheels drove away, those with wings flew, and as Megatron ascended into the air, with Sparkplug in his grip, he couldn't help but cackle at the helpless Autobots. And with that, Megatron was gone.

The Autobots slowly got up from the ground, and looked around to see all of the destruction caused to the block. Optimus reached into his comm.

"Wheeljack, ground bridge us back to base. Tell Ratchet to prepare sick bay. Some of us, will need it." Prime said. He turned and saw Spike, who was sobbing profusely at what had happened, while the rest of the humans were comforting him..

 **Epilogue**

Agent Fowler sat in a chair in a dark room, only illuminated by the light coming through he blinds.

"We have a visual on the enemy's base of operations. The Director has given us authroitzation to go in and trash the place." Fowler began. "It's gonna be a dangerous mission. We are going up against a technological civilization far more advanced than our own. They can take any shap. They could be anywhere. What I'm asking you is, are you in?

The man who Fowler was talking to was of Latino descent, and he was wearing a soldier uniform. . .

Raoul.


	8. Stay Put

**Chapter 8 - Stay Put**

July 19, 2017

 _Wyoming_

It was a foggy morning in a dense forest in Wyoming. It was fairly quiet, until the ground shook, sending multiple birds soaring through the air. The source of the shaking, was multiple tanks that were plowing through the forest. Inside the tanks were United States Armymen. Raoul was peeking out of the tank, while carrying binoculars. He looked into the distance and saw the massive purple fortress mounted at the top of the hill. He took a long look at it. He'd seen nothing like it. He thought it was only possible in those wacky 80s sci fi movies about aliens integrating on Earth.

The tanks came to a halt, and their cannons took aim at the fortress, ready to fire at the sight of any hostiles. "Now we wait." said Raoul, confidently. Alien robots were surely out of his league, but he put on the same confident bravado that he always had.

Soon, the army men heard multiple booms coming from the sky. Raoul looked up, and upon further inspection saw three F-15s, a large Boeing B-17, and a cybertronic jet soaring through the air. Coming from behind the base was a gray tank, a Ford Mustang, a gray motorcycle and a tank with desert camo. The blue F-15 took notice of the tanks that were surrounding the base.

"Lord Megatron, I have spotted several human military units surrounding our base." Thundercracker reported. He was surprised that the humans had the gall to attempt to execute such a foolish attack, and with land vehicles no less. Thundercracker had nothing but contempt for the humans.

"How adorable, the humans are retaliating." Starscream said in a patronizing tone.

"Sarscream, you and your seekers handle this. Remain in vehicle mode! I must get inside with our prisoner intact." Megatron ordered. Sparkplug laid inside Megatron, asleep. He had tired of trying to find ways to escape. He had been up all night.

Starscream and the rest of the airborne Decepticons flew around to attack the humans. They fired cluster bombs and machine gun rounds at the humans.

"Open fire!" Raoul ordered, while pointing at the base. The tanks fired their shells at the fortress's thick walls. The shells had no effect, and the walls were left intact.

"Sir, what just attacked us?" asked one of the soldiers, unwittingly.

"Those are F-15s, but they aren't sporting our colors! They must be the enemy!" Raoul replied.

The Decepticons kept firing until Lugnut, opened a hatch on his underside. Inside the hatch was a large bomb, with a Decepticon insignia. Raoul looked up in shock to see what was happening. Lugnut dropped the bomb.

"All units, fall back!" Raoul ordered. He and several others jumped out of the tanks and dashed for safety. The bomb created a powerful explosion that sent the tanks flying and caused multiple trees toppling over, and sent a huge, thick cloud of smoke into the air. Any surviving humans were running for their lives. As the smoke cleared, the ground smelled of gunpowder and scorched Earth.

Lugnut transformed, and landed just outside of the fortress' walls, and he let out a mighty roar. The rest of the Decepticons transformed and came up to congratulate Lugnut on his victory. Megatron approached them and transformed, with Sparkplug in hand.

"We must get inside, quickly. We are vulnerable!" Megatron bellowed. The Decepticons all followed him inside of the fortress.

 _Later_

Sparkplug was wide awake and noticed that he was bound by several chains. The chains were collected to a leash that was held by Megatron. He looked around him and was both shocked and amazed by the futuristic fortress. He saw multiple Decepticons of the same model walking up and down the hallways with datapads in their hands. There were also some smaller Transformers who were renovating and cleaning the fortress. He and the Decepticons walked into another room. This room had multiple cell doors, with keypads that were used to unlock them. Sparkplug must've been in some kind of prison. He looked in the corner, and saw the decaying remains of a starved man who was chained to the wall. Sparkplug saw his uniform and recognized him. It was Colonel Bryce. Sparkplug nearly threw up, but he kept it down. If he got all kinds of waste all over the floor, the Decepticons would surely kill him.

"Where am I?" He asked, while stuttering as much as his son.

Megatron yanked the chain, pulling Sparkplug off his feet, and nearly choking him. He held Sparkplug up to his face. Sparkplug's hazel brown eyes, met with Megatron's ruby red optics. Sparkplug stared into Megatron's optics which seemed full of life, but cold and heartless at the same time.

"Shut up, worm!" Megatron growled. He let go of the chain, causing it to dangle, but he caught Sparkplug before he hit the ground. Sparkplug knew that they weren't gonna treat him humanely. They would treat him like a dog. Like a beast incapable of intellegence. Megatron dragged Sparkplug into the next room, and lifted him up. Inside the room was a glass tube, and within the glass tube was a series of computers. Megatron opened the tube, let go of the chain and dropped Sparkplug in.

The impact was anything but soft. Sparkplug's arm and back ached. At least he was out of those chains. Those chains were starting to chafe. He went over to the computer.

"You are going to access Blackrock Enterprises' database and decrypt their encrypted files." Megatron began. "Once they are all decrypted, no further action will be required. These Vehicons will be monitoring your progress." He said while gesturing towards two similar looking robots who were guarding the doors. "You have 12 Earthen hours."

Sparkplug solemnly nodded in agreement. It was the only thing he could do. These robots were gods compared to him. If he defied them, they would surely put him to death, like they did Bryce. Sparkplug sat at the desk, and booted up the computer. All he could do now is hope and pray that Spike was safe..

 _Elsewhere_

 _Washington_

Optimus Prime and all of the Autobots stood in the Ark's war room, with the humans standing on the table.

"You all have been called here for a very important reason." Optimus began. "Spike's father has been taken prisoner by the Decepticons. We must rescue him and bring him back here safely." Optimus said.

"Thanks to Teletraan's sky spy, we have located the Decepticon's base. It's somewhere in Wyoming. We don't have the exact coordinates, but we do know the general area." Prowl said. "Their base is still under construction. The easiest and least defended access point is the waste ducts at the base of their fortress. We can infiltrate form there."

"We will need all active Autobots for this mission. The Decepticons not only outnumber us, but they have us outgunned as well. We must proceed with caution. Everyone, report to the ground bridge for roll call! Optimus ordered. All of the Autobots poured out of the room, except of for Optimus who was staying behind. "Stay put." Optimus commanded.

The humans nodded in acknowledgement, and Optimus left the room. The rest of the Autobots arrived at the ground bridge. "Jazz, begin roll call!" said Optimus.

"Prowl, Sideswipe, Bumblebee." They all transformed as Jazz called them out. "Ratchet, Wheeljack, Cliffjumper, Arcee, Bulkhead." They were all transformed except for Prime and Jazz. " Your call, Optimus." Jazz and Prime transformed.

"Autobots, roll out!" Prime ordered. The Diagnostic Drone activated the ground bridge, and the Autobots drove through one by one. DD closed the ground bridge when they were all gone, and left the room.

The humans were sitting upstairs, and they were bored out of their minds. There was no one to talk to, nothing to do. The Ark had blocked their wifi connection, so they had no service. Carly and Chip waited patiently. Spike sat, anxiously. What if he would never see his dad again? The sheer thought almost brought him to tears again. Carly was there rubbing Spike's back to comfort him.

"This bites!" Sari exclaimed, while throwing her hands into the air. "There's nothing to do!" she complained.

"Isn't that the point?" Chip asked sardonically. Sari ignored Chip and jumped off the table, onto the chair, and then onto the ground.

"I'm gonna have look around." she said, while walking out.

"Sari, no!" Chip whispered. The others came over to see what was happening. As Sari was walking out, the others followed behind her, reluctantly.

She wandered for a bit, until she saw the ground bridge room. She had a cheeky grin. She loved watching robots fighting, so why not? As long as she kept her distance, she thought. She climbed up the ladder leading to the ground bridge controls. The diagnostic drone was no where to be seen. She reached the controls, and jumped onto the lever. She jumped multiple times to push it down, and on the fifth jump, the ground bridge switched on. She got down, and went over to the ground bride. She was about to enter, when the other humans caught up with her.

"Don't even think about it, Sari!" Spike said. "I may have lost my father to those monsters, but I'm not losing anybody else!".

"I don't need you to watch over me. Besides, don't you wanna know if he's OK or not? If we keep our distance, we'll be safe." She said.

Spike thought it over for a second. He did want to be sure that his father was OK. He didn't like being kept in suspense.

"OK, fine." Spike said reluctantly. Sari grinned like a cheeky bastard and, they all ran inside of the ground bridge portal.

 _Wyoming._

The humans emerged from the other side of the portal. They felt light headed, but it wasn't as bad as before.

"I'll never get used to that." Chip said. The humans looked around, and to their surprise, they saw one of Soundwave's mini-cons, Rumble standing over them. . .


	9. A Friend in Need

**Chapter 9 - A Friend in Need**

Wyoming

July 19, 2017

Spike, Chip, and Carly had already ran off, but stopped when they say that Sari didn't run with them. Rumble stood over Sari like a giant. He was red and black, with gold accents. He had two cannons attached to his backside. Sari was about three fourths his height. His optics met with Sari's eyes, for a few moments. He looked into Sari's azure eyes which were unnatural for a human. Sari stared back at him. Rumble wore a red tinted visor that hid his optics, but Sari could still see his glowing red eyes. They were both silent, petrified with fear. The sound was broken when Rumble screamed as loud as his voice box could allow him. "AAAAAAAHH!" Sari screamed as well in response. "AAAAAAAHH!!" Rumble reached for one of the blasters on his back and aimed it at Sari. His finger rested on the trigger, and he was fidgeting like a broken scraplet. Rumble was cautious. He didn't know if the human would spew her disgusting fluids at him, causing a deadly infection. He couldn't imagine how Enemy felt being touched by them so many times. Sari was frozen in terror. She knew if she made any sudden movements, her life was over.

"Sari, run towards us!" Spike yelled, while gesturing towards himself. Sari turned about face, and scurried over to the others. Rumble panicked and fired at Sari's feet as a warning shot, causing her to fly off the ground, and land right in front of Spike in the others. Sari was wearing a skirt, so part of her legs got scraped. They got her up, and made a break for the forest while screaming for help. But who could really help them now?

Nearby, the Autobots were preparing to enter the waste tunnels of the fortress. They were at the base of the incline that the fortress was built on. They were reluctant to go inside, they couldnt see that far ahead, and there was waste flowing out, creating a trashy river. The bots knew that if they didn't go in there, Spike would never see his father again. They shrugged off their fear and apprehension. The bots were thigh deep in brown murky water. There was scrap piles, and trash and garbage in the water, that scrapped against their thighs and knees. There was an extremely foul stench, that caused some of the Autobots to wince. Sideswipe was having a real bad time. He worked very hard to keep his body in peak condition, now all that hard work was going to waste. Optimus was leading the group, with Bulkhead tailing them from behind. Bulk was murmuring to himself to reassure himself that everything would be OK. Then he heard the human's screams, and looked around to see where they came from.

"That sounded like it came from outside!" Bulkhead mumbled. He knew he had to investigate, but he didn't want to distract the Autobots from their mission. As the others went forward, Bulkhead slipped away, and ran out of the tunnels as silently as he could. The brown water sloshed against his legs, and the sharp pieces of metal scrapped against him. He dashed towards the forest, where he heard the screams getting louder. He looked around and froze up when he saw the humans right outside of the Decepticon's fortress. What could they possibly be doing here? How did they get here? Bulkhead didn't have time to process these thoughts, as he saw that Rumble was slowly nearing them. Bulk gritted his teeth, and charged towards Rumble. He wasn't letting anyone getting hurt on his watch.

"Wha-?l Rumble muttered as he saw Bulkhead charging for him. He froze up once more, and had no idea what to do. The Autobot tackled Rumble, and brought him to the ground with a hard thud. Bulk punched Rumble's head into the ground, causing his visor to crack, and causing his olfactory receptors to leak pink fluids. The Battlechargers had stopped their construction work to see what was going on. They were surprised to see Bulkhead standing out in the courtyard. Why would an Autobot be so foolish as to step into Decepticon territory? Who knows? One of the Battlechargers, Steve, reached into his commlink and contacted Megatron.

"Lord Megatron, Autobot in the Base! Repeat Autobot in the Base!" Steve said. The Battlechargers drew their blasters and fired at Bulkhead.

Bulkhead covered his face with his arm to protect himself from the blasts. The lasers weren't strong enough to penetrate his armor, but boy did they sting. Bulkhead slowly made his way over to a boulder. He tried to pick it up, but the firepower made it a hassle. He held the boulder over his head and tossed it at the Vehicons, causing them to scatter. Bulk ran up to the Battlechargers, deployed his cannons and fired rockets at them. Sari and the others were well into the forest, and away from any Decepticons. They still kept running, so they wouldn't be spotted.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Spike hollered, at Sari. Spike was growing real cross. Sari had dragged them out into a war zone.

"Watch your damn mouth, Spike!" Sari growled in response. They both were having a rough day, but Sari really wasn't in the mood for lip.

"Guys, guys." Carly said while getting between Sari and Spike. "It doesn't matter whose fault this is. We are in danger, and it is imperative that we get someplace safe. Now hug it out, and let's find somewhere to hide." Carly was used to arguments such as these. When her brothers got into fights, she would have to act as the mediator.

"What? As if, I'm gonna hug nerd boy over here." Sari said crossing her arms.

"Great, well the feeling's mutual, you ignoramus!" Spike said while crossing his.

Carly was clearly iterated, and she grabbed both Spike and Sari by their ears, and yanked them. "Hug. It. Out!" She exclaimed.

Said and Spike didn't want to face womanly raged, so they hugged for a split second. It was the worst feeling any of them had. Carly however was satisfied. Chip couldn't help but snicker. "Now let's get moving!" Carly exclaimed. The humans retreated further into the forest.

Back at the fortress, Bulkhead was mowing down the Battlechargers. "Ratatatatata badadadadada kaboom! Kaboom!" Bulk chanted as he kept firing. He was enjoying himself more than he should have been. It has been a long while since Bulkhead got some action. He had a big stinking grin on his face. Being a former Wrecker, he craved heavy metal warfare. He had toned down his love for fighting ever since he joined Team Prime, but he couldn't help but lose himself in glorious battle.

"He's too strong, fall back!" Steve commanded. Even after the cons had emptied their clips on Bulkhead's chassis, Bulk was still at large. They ran inside the fortress, leaving Bulk alone in the courtyard. Bulkhead retracted his blasters, and stood victoriously.

"Is that all you got?" Bulkhead gloated. Unfortunately he had spoken too soon. A missile had struck him, sending him flying, and causing him to hit a tree. The tree fell over, and Bulkhead groaned in pain.

"It's been a long time, nemesis!" said a booming, deep voice. Bulkhead opened his objects and saw Lugnut standing in front of him stretching his jaw out to make a facial expression that somewhat resembled a maniacal grin.

Meanwhile inside, the Autobots were able to get out of the tunnels. They were covered in grime and dirt from all the waste, "Great, now I'm gonna need a new paint job!" whined Sideswipe.

"Worry about your looks later, pretty bot! We're on a mission." Cliffjumper grumbled.

"Well, excuse me for having standards for my physical appearance." Sideswipe retaliated.

The Autobots found an exit, and left the waste disposal area. They were now in the hallways. The halls were a dark purple. Red lights illuminated the halls, and there were branching paths that lead to different rooms, and signs with Cybertronic writing on them, which detailed where everything was. Prime walked over to a sign, and read it.

"Cell Blocks 1-5"

"This way!" Optimus commanded while gesturing to the left hallway. The Autobots quickly, but silently dashed down the hallway, and looked around for the cell block. While wandering, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. The Autobots looked up to see where the announcement was coming from.

"Attention all units. A trespasser has been identified in the courtyard. He is armed and dangerous. Proceed with extreme caution. We also have reports of several biological life forms near our base. Remain alert. This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill." said a deep monotone voice. It must have been Soundwave. Prime could recognize that voice from anywhere. He was confused however. Who could this intruder be? And what kinda of biological life forms could be near the base? Prime's thoughts were interrupted by Arcee.

"Optimus, where is Bulkhead?' She asked. The others looked around, and realized that Bulkhead was no where to be seen. A sense of dread hung over them. What if the poor bot was hurt? Or even worse, killed?

"I had done three headcounts, how could he have escaped us? away?" Prowl growled. Optimus was going to respond, but they all heard a door slide open. They quickly dashed to any walls they could hide behind. Some bots, such as Prime and Prowl were relaxed and calm. Others such as Sideswipe, were freaking out. Sides kept it to himself though. He wanted to keep up appearances. Prime peered from behind the wall he was hiding behind to see who it was. When he saw who it was, he knew things went from bad to worse.

It was Starscream. He had walked in and made his over to the cell block. In the cell block were multiple cells with keypads on each cell door. Starscream walk into a large open room with a large glass tube in the middle. Prime tried to get a better look, and saw Sparkplug, sitting at a table inside the tube, typing away at some computers.

Sparkplug was tired, cold and hungry. He felt like he was going to collapse at any moment, but he didn't want to deal with more abuse from his captors. He froze up, when he heard footsteps coming near the tube. He turned and saw Starscream looking down at him.

"I must saw, your skills are impressive. For a human at least." said Starscream, slyly. Something was off. He seemed affable, unlike the other Decepticons. "Do tell, creature. Why would you work for Megatron, when you can serve an even greater cause. I'm willing to propose something. If you help me decrypt those files, and give me sole access to them, I shall free you, and I'll allow you to be my pet in my new world order." He said while clenching his fist. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

"After you tried to hurt my son and his friends, captured me, held me here against my free will, and disrespected my rights as a U.S. citizen, you really think I'm gonna help you?" Sparkplug didn't know what possessed him to act out like this, but he'd finally suffered enough. "Go ding your diodes, and get defunct, you walking trash compactor, I'm not helping you do zilch!" Sparkplug hollered.

Starscream grinned a wicked grin, and there was a red glint in his eye. "Oh what a shame." He said. He aimed his null ray at him. Sparkplug had instantly regretted what he said. "Well, unfortunately I'm going to have to get bits of dead anthropoid all over this nice floor." Starscream was about to fire, but he heard another blaster being primed. He stepped back, and felt the barrel of a gun hit the back of his head.

Optimus was standing behind him with his blaster drawn. "Let the human go!" Prime commanded. Starscream turned and looked behind him, only to see all the Autobots aiming their blasters at him...


	10. Quest for Survival

**Chapter 10 - Quest for Survival**

Wyoming

There was an eerie silence that filled the room, the only sound was the humming of the blasters that belonged to each combatant. The Autobots stood firm, and kept their blasters trained on Starscream, ready to fire if he made any sudden movements. Starscream, merely had a cunning smirk on his face. The bots knew that Starscream was up to something. After a few tense seconds, Starscream lowered his blaster arm, aiming at the floor instead of Sparkplug. most of the Autobots sighed a breath of relief. Not Optimus, however. Optimus has been cornered by Starscream before, and he knew that the sly air commander always had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Now step away from that capsule." Optimus firmly commanded. Starscream ignored Prime's orders and stood there, still grinning. "I said, step away!" Optimus repeated. Starscream ignored him once more, suddenly two launchers came out from flaps on Starscream's chest

"Die Autobots!" Starscream yelled. He fired clusters bombs at the Autobots. The bots ducked, causing the bombs to fly down the hallway, and hit the wall, creating two small explosions. The Autobots recovered from the attack, but Starscream fired his null rays at the Autobots, forcing them back out of the room. Starscream gritted his teeth, and didn't let up, not even for a minute. He'd empty his entire clip on them if he needed to. He fired more cluster bombs from his chest. Optimus and Ironhide were at the front of the group. Ironhide deployed a combat shield to protect himself from the incoming fire. Prime just lifted his arm in front of his face, as he and his old friend returned fire. Arcee was in the back of the group, and was smallest. The female Autobot transformed, and drove under Optimus and toward Starscream. The air commander was too focused on Prime and Ironhide to notice her. Arcee drove under Starscream, and turned back around. She transformed and kneed Starscream in the back of the head.

The others saw this as an opportunity. they pushed forward, and surrounded Starscream. Arcee walked over to the capsule, and deployed her wrist blades. She slashed at the capsule's glass composition, causing it to slice in half, and to shatter when it hit the ground. Arcee extended her hand out to Sparkplug, and put on an unassuming smile. She retracted her wrist blades in an effort to make herself look more friendly and affable. She could tell that the human had been traumatized. He was reluctant, but he slowly climbed onto Arcee's palm. "I've got the human, Optimus." she said.

"Good work, Arcee!" Optimus said, while grinning triumphantly under his face plate. "Now all we need to do is escape before more Decepticons show up! Roll out!" Optimus and the rest of the Autobots transformed. Sparkplug was bewildered as he saw the robots turn into what seemed like ordinary vehicles. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He was both amazed and frightened. He got inside of Rathcet, and the Autobots drove out of the cell block, leaving Starscream alone, groaning in pain on the floor. They drove down the hallways, and made it back to the waste tunnels. Ratchet opened the door, indicating for Sparkplug to get out. The human hopped out, and the Autobots transformed. The water was too thick and too high to drive through. Arcee picked up Sparkplug and put him on her shoulder. They walked into the waste tunnels, and began making their way out. It was just as unpleasant as before. Arcee was the shortest so the waste went up to her waist. Once again, a putrid odor hit their olfactory receptors. "Now, let's go find Bulkhead." Optimus said.

Bulkhead and Lugnut were outside in the courtyard, circling each other warily. Wounds, scratches and dents were in both of their armor plating. They had been going at it for a long while now. Bulkhead's hands were replaced by wrecking balls, and Lugnut was wielding a power mace. Bulkhead retracted his left wrecking ball, and wiped the pink fluid that was leaking from his nose. He turned his hand back into a wrecking ball, in anticipation of his nemesis' next move. "You've grown stronger ever since Darkmount Pass." Lugnut growled. "You did quite the number on Lord Straxus. I'm actually glad that you did. I never did trust him. He always seemed. . .off. A shame that we weren't able to battle on your 'glorified cargo hauler' you call the Ark.

"Shut up. We still got unfinished business." Bulkhead grumbled as he slammed his wrecking balls together.

"Never have I seen some one so ready to lose!" Lugnut hollered, he charged towards Bulkhead. He swung his mace at him a couple of times, and Bulkhead blocked the blows using his wrecking balls. Lugnut jumped back, and fired two missiles at Bulkhead, which the Autobot narrowly avoided. Lugnut stood over him, and was about to slam down his mace, which would send Bulk into a painful concussion. He rolled out of the way, and punched Lugnut in the gut with his wrecking ball. He proceeded to get up on his feet and uppercut the Decepticon. Lugnut was about to retaliate, but a barrage of lasers hit him in the back, sending him to the ground. Bulkhead took a long look at his exasperated opponent. He sighed a breath of relief, and looked up to see who was had helped him. He saw the rest of the Autobots running towards him to come check on him.

"Bulkhead, are you OK? Bumblebee asked, resting his hand on Bulkhead's shoulder.

"I'm fine, thanks." Bulk replied, about to collapse.

"We need to get you back to the Ark, for repairs." Ratchet said while approaching Bulk.

"Wait, the kids! I heard them, they're out here somewhere!" Bulk exclaimed.

"Maybe that's why the cons said that their was biological life forms out here." Arcee said.

"Kids? D'ya mean my son? Where is he? Sparkplug frantically asked.

"That's what we gotta find out!" Bulkhead replied. "I think I heard them coming from this way!" Bulkhead said. He and the other Autobots transformed. Sparkplug got inside of Bumblebee, and the Autobots drove off into the forest.

Sari, Spike, Carly and Chip were waiting on the side of the road, in the hope that someone would come to give them a ride. There were out there for an hour, and no one had came. Sari was sitting down on a rock, while Spike and Chip leaned against the cliff face. Carly was kneeling down beside the road, looking for any cars to arrive. She was shocked to hear so many were coming. The Autobots came driving down the mountain, and upon seeing the humans skidded to a stop.

The Autobots were in vehicle mode, but the humans could tell that they were displeased with them. "Get inside, now!" Bumblebee ordered. Bumblebee opened his door, and they all got inside. Once he got inside, Spike's eyes met with Sparkplug's and they were both filled with overwhelming joy.

"Spike! Oh thank God, you're OK." Sparkplug said as he clutched his son tightly. Spike was at a loss for words. He was just glad that he was reunited with his father. Tears were rolling down both of their cheeks. Carly and Chip were happy for Spike, Sari however, crossed her arms, and just stared out the window, and gazed across the horizon. Carly glanced over to her and could tell that something was wrong. Sari paid her no mind. While she was staring, she saw two Decepticon jets flying towards them.

"I hate to interrupt the family reunion, but we have jet planes on our tail!" Sari exclaimed. The rest of the Autobots looked into their rear view mirrors, and saw Thundercracker, Skywarp and Slipstream flying towards them.

"We have Decepticons tailing us! If we open a ground bridge we risk having them get inside our headquarters. Our best option would be to head towards the city, we could easily blend in, and make it harder for us to find!" Optimus ordered. He sped off, and the rest of the Autobots drove after him. They were accelerating past the speed limit. Before long, they drove onto the freeway. There was a small amount of traffic. The humans tried to remain calm, but Spike heard police sirens starting to blare. He looked in the rear view mirror, and saw a Ford Mustang chasing after them. A feeling of apprehension had consumed him.

"Bumblebee, look!" Spike said. Not only was Barricade behind them, but Nightbird, Demolisher and a power shovel were chasing after them. The power shovel was colored lime green, and had purple treads. The power shovel sped up, and began to transform into a lime green and purple robot, with a black red, red visor, and gray face plate. He was maneuvering on his tread kibble as if they were roller skates. He used the power shovel on his back to tip over any cars that were in his way. A bus was in front of him, he skated up to, and bulldozed through it, causing it to split in half. He was getting closer to the Autobots, and Optimus took notice.

"Autobots, you head towards the city and hide from the Decepticons, I'll handle Scavenger!" Optimus ordered. Prime fell behind, while the others sped up. Optimus transformed and skidded to a stop. Scavenger skated from behind Optimus and talked him off the freeway and onto a road below. Optimus and Scavenger landed on several cars, causing the humans in the area to scream and run off.

Optmius slowly got up, but Scavenger balled his hands together and brought them down on the back of Prime's head, sending him to the ground. "When the others learn that I took down Optimus Prime, they'll have to respect me!" Scavenger exclaimed. He was about to punch Optimus again, but Prime rolled over, and punched Scavenger in the face, sending parts of his face plate flying. Optimus kicked Scavenger, causing him to land on a car with a single mother and a baby inside of it. Scavenger rolled over, and stared at the mother and her child, menacingly. He tried to attack them with his power shovel, but Optimus grabbed Scavenger and tossed him at one of the supports keeping the freeway suspended in the air. Scavenger tried to retaliate with his power shovel, but Optimus turned his hands into swords and sliced it off. He wrapped his arm around Scavenger's head, and held him in a headlock, where he proceeded to jab his sword straight through Scavenger's head. Prime let go, causing Scavenger's decapitated head to fall off, and his body to topple over. Optimus transformed and drove off. Scavenger sighed. "Foiled again." he muttered as his body struggled to grab his head.

Meanwhile, the Autobots made it to Los Angeles. There was a lot of traffic know, which allowed the Autobots to blend in, and hide from the Decepticons. "Megatron, we've lost sight of the Autobots, we believe they're hiding in the human traffic, but we don't know where." Thundercracker reported.

"Then level the entire city, until those Autobots are found!" Megatron ordered.

"Understood." Thundercracker said. He terminated the transmission.

"What did Megatron say?" Skywarp asked.

"Destroy the city, until those Autobots are found". Thundercracker replied...


	11. City of Steel

**Chapter 11 - City of Steel**

The city of Los Angeles was very busy today. thousands of people were hustling and bustling through the streets. There was heavy traffic downtown. On the corner of Michigan and 78th st. several cars parked on the side of the road. The yellow car opened its door, and Spike, Carly, Chip, Sari and Sparkplug got out. They brushed off all the dirt, and crumbs from when they were eating. Normally the Autobots were against allowing the humans to eat inside of them, but they made this the one exception, as the humans were tired and hungry from running and screaming. They heard sonic booms coming from the sky, and they looked up to see two F-15s soaring through the air. Everyone else on the block looked up to see what was all the commotion. Spike got a clearer look at the jets, and saw that one of them was blue, and the other was purple and black.

"Decepticons!" Chip shouted. Everyone on the block looked at him wondering what he meant. The Autobots looked up in thier vehicle modes, and saw the two seekers flying back around, getting ready to attack.

"Lord Megatron, we have sighting on the Autobots." Thundercracker reported.

"Perfect. Decepticons, attack!" Megatron bellowed.

Ironhide saw the jets, and recognized them. Upon realization he and the other Autobots transformed. The masses were shocked to see ordinary vehicles turn into gargantuan machines. "It's Thundercracker and Skywarp, they're coming back around to attack! Get cover!" Ironhide shouted. The Autobots had fallen back, while Bumblebee and Sideswipe went over to a trailer truck and lifted it up with both hands to use as cover. Bumblebee went to the front, opened the door, grabbed the driver and tossed him out. The two seekers came back around and fired two missiles each at the Autobots.

Upon seeing the missiles, people began running in the opposite direction while screaming in fear. The first three missiles landed and exploded in front of them. The fourth one, however hit the truck Bumblebee and Sideswipe were carrying, causing an explosion that sent them both flying. Bee and Side crashed into a bakery, and the truck's fiery remains landed in front of them, and near the humans, crushing Bumblebee and Sideswipe's legs. The humans ducked out of the way, and fell to the ground.

"Holy, scrap! I can't feel my legs!" Sideswipe screamed. Bumblebee mustered all of his strength and pushed the truck off of his severed legs. He crawled out of the destroyed bakery with what little energy he had. Spike got up, looked around, and saw the two injured bots.

"Bumblebee! Sideswipe!" Spike cried out in horror. He rushed over to them.

"I c-can't feel my l-legs." Bumblebee muttered while crawling towards Spike. "Hurts, r-really bad. Losing l-lot of e-energon." Spike stared into Bumblebee's eyes. Despite them both being different species, they were one in the same. Both fearful for their lives. At that point Spike realized that these were no ordinary machines, they were living things.

"It'll be OK. I promise." Spike said while resting his hand on Bee's helmet. "You'll be fine. I promise." He kept promising. Suddenly, tank shells flew past them. An M1 Abrams tank was coming down the street, firing tank shells, and running over cars. People screamed in fear while running past the tank. Behind the tank was a Ford Mustang and a Buell Firebolt XB12R motorcycle, driving towards the Autobots. The mustang and motorcycle transformed into Barricade and Nightbird. They began firing at the Autobots. The bots and humans took cover, but Ironhide had other plans.

He transformed and sped towards the tank, evading the tank shells. Ratchet, Jazz and Clifjumper followed his lead, and sped towards the tank. A shell was about to hit Ironhide, but he transformed and used his cannons to propel himself into the air, causing the shell to miss him. Cliffjumper flanked the tank, and grabbed onto it's barrel, causing it to transform into Demolisher. Cliff climbed onto the con's back and fired at Demolisher's head with his glass gas cannon, but Demolisher grabbed the Autobot by the arms, and flung him towards a window shop, causing him to crash into it, sending glass flying everywhere. The other bots were firing at Demolisher, Nightbird and Barricade. A firefight has broke out. Ironhide fired shells at Demolisher, while Ratchet caught Demolisher off guard, and used a buzzsaw to saw his forearm off, but the Decepticon was still standing. Ratchet weaved in and out to get a few good shots at Demolisher with his buzzsaw. All the Autobots kept firing until they brought down Demolisher. Realizing they were outnumbered, Barricade and Nightbird about faced, transformed and fled from the battlefield. Wheeljack and Prowl grabbed Bumblebee and Sideswipe, and lugged them over their shoulders. They carried them into an alley way, where they set them down.

At the window shop, Cliffjumper got up, and tried to make his way back to the others, but a large silver robot fell from the sky and landed behind him. It was Megatron. Cliff turned around, but before he knew it, Megatron fried his fusion cannon, creating an explosion that sent Cliffjumper flying across the street. The other Autobots noticed Megatron's arrival.

"Autobots, Megatron is on the battlefield. Fall back, I repeat, fall back!" Prowl ordered while reaching into his comm.

Megatron approached the Cliffjumper, grabbed him by the leg, activated his jet boosters, and flew off to the top of a building. Megatron landed on top of the building, and grabbed Cliffumper by his left foot and right arm. "Do your worst, Megatron, before I wipe that smile off your face plate!" Cliffjumper yelled, as he fired at Megatron's face. The only response Megatron gave was a deep growl. He pulled on Cliff's arm and leg, tearing the Autobot's spine from his legs and causing energon to fly everywhere.

"Oh my, Primus, Oh my, Primus!" Cliff shrieked as he stared at his severed legs. Megatorn, with both halves of Cliff in hand, slammed both halves. together, crumpling up the poor Autobot. Megatron then grabbed the bot's arm and held Cliff over his head, while opening his mouth wide. "Primus spare my spark! **PRIMUS SPARE MY SPARK!** " Cliffjumper was crying, screaming and flailing around like a baby. Megatron put Cliff's torso in his mouth, bit down and chewed. He tore out Cliffjumper's spark casing with his teeth, and proceeded to grab his spark with his teeth. He then ripped it out and bit down on it, causing it to burst into blue fluid. Megatron swallowed Cliffjumper's body and Cliff's decapitated and lifeless head was hanging from Megatron's mouth by a few cords. The Autobots stared in horror and disgust.

"CLIFFJUMPER!" Prowl screamed. Sari had saw what happened and vomited all over the ground. None of them could believe what had just happened. Spike then looked down the street, and saw Demolisher was getting back up. He heard the whirs of helicopter rotors and saw a MH-53 Pave Low transform into Blackout and land on top of a building. Spike silently swore. He looked over at Sari, who looked like crap.

"Ironhide, we need to get out of here! Sari isn't looking too hot, in more than one sense!" Spike said, wittingly.

"Kill yourself, Spike." Sari said groggily.

"You're right." Ironhide said. He reached into his comm. "All units, we need to get the humans out of the city." Ironhide said. He walked over to the wounded Sideswipe, and grabbed his jetpack. He gestured for Ratchet to come to him. "Me and Ratchet are gonna help you make it out of the city. The others will give us cover fire, while we protect ya, but we can't do that as well in alt mode as we can in robot mode, so you're gonna have to run." Ironhide ordered. "We'll protect you. On Primus' good name, we'll protect you." Spike nodded. The humans, Ratchet and Ironhide started to run down the street

The rest of the Autobots drew their blasters and aimed at the Decepticons. "Decepticons, get me those humans!" Megatron growled.

"Autobots, LIGHT EM' UP!" Prowl yelled. The Autobots unleashed all the fire power they had. Blackout was running towards the humans, but Ironhide picked up a car and tossed it, while Ratchet fired at him, causing Blackout to transform and fly away. Demolisher was back on his feet, and began firing at the Autobots, once more.

Soon, Megatron heard horns honking from the alleyway. He jolted his head and saw a red and blue Peterbilt 579 driving towards him. It drove out onto the streets, and transformed into Optimus Prime. Prime assumed a fighting stance.

"Megatron!" Optimus yelled.

" **PRIME**!" Megatron roared.

Both combatants where about to have what seemed like, their final battle.i


	12. Heavy Metal War

**fChapter 12 - Heavy Metal War**

 **The final chapter of part 1! Also, a quick author's note. In the last chapter, I made a big glaring mistake! I misspelled Demolishor's name every time I wrote it. It's "Demolishor", not "Demolisher".**

Optimus Prime and Megatron stared at each other intensely, anticipating each other's next move. Without warning, Megatron tossed aside the lifeless remains of Cliffjumper, and jumped off of the building he was perched on. The jet boosters on his ankles activated, propelling himself towards Optimus. Cliffjumper's carcass landed in the middle of the street, where Jazz raced to pick it up. He took one long look at his friend's lifeless corpse. He retracted his visor, and closed his optics while silently praying.

Megatron flew towards Optimus. In retaliation, Optimus jumped up, grabbed onto Megatron, and held on tightly. Megatron spiraled through the air, as Optimus dangled from his foot. The two combatants soared through the streets, and smashed through an office building. They flew past workers and cubicles, sending papers, glass, and debris flying everywhere. People inside the offices scurried to safety, shouting for help. Prime and Megatron crashed through another window, and flew out of the other side of the building, where they both landed in the street, and onto a few cars. Chunks of bricks fell to the ground, as a gaping hole was left in the building.

Optimus slowly got up from the fall, and groaned in pain, while Megatron did the same. They both circled each other wearily.

"Why do you fight for these creatures, Optimus?" Megatron asked. "Don't you understand? They are beneath us. These vermin are greedy and selfish." He gestured to street over. The street was in ruin. Lights were damaged, cars were on fire, roads were torn up and destroyed, city windows were broken. Many people lay on the floor, injured, struggling for help. A small child was trying to help his mother and little sister out of some rubble. While the child was struggling, a man in a torn up sweater and jeans came up to them and shoved the child out of the way. He ran up to the mother, stole her purse and ran off. "Even in the time of crisis, these humans loot, steal and harm others for their own personal gain. They know not of compassion. They do not care, nor, love, nor respect each other. The 'goodness' in humans you believe in?" It doesn't exist!" Megatron growled.

Optimus looked around. What Megatron said held some merit. All around him, people were looting, and stealing, showing no concern for others around them. Some people stole cars, and drove off while leaving others behind. People were pushing and shoving to find what food they could. Optimus clenched his fists. "Do you think I am not aware of humanity's vices Megatron? Well I am." Optimus said, beginning his retort. "While the humans may be greedy and selfish, they also have the capacity for good. For every bad person in this world, there are a thousand good ones. Good people who are willing to do the right thing, and who are willing to help people." These words angered Megatron. He believed that humanity was disgusting and should deserved to be conquered. Megatron roared, and charged at Optimus. He punched Optimus in the jaw, sending the red robot flying.

"If you care about these humans so much, then you shall die with them!" Megatron charged up his fusion cannon, and aimed at Optimus. "You shall join them in their suffering!" Optimus hopped to his feet, and drew his ion blaster. He fired at Megatron, causing him to recoil. Megatron kept his ground, and fired the shot he was charging up. It hit Optimus, sending him through the streets and smashing into the wall of a building. The building suspended Prime in midair before he fell to the ground, and landed on some humans.

Meanwhile, Ratchet, Ironhide and the humans where running down the street as fast as they could. Skywarp swooped down, transformed and landed right in front of them, sending cars and trucks flying. The humans ducked while Skywarp drew his machine guns and fired at Ratchet and Ironhide. Skywarp overwhelmed the two with his machine guns, but Ironhide shot a shell at Skywarp, weakening him. This prompted the Decepticon to transform and fly off. The humans got up, and saw Ironhide and Ratchet collapse from their injuries.

"S-Spike. You need to get to the building, and hide. We'll catch up with ya. Just give us a moment." said Ironhide as he struggled to speak. The humans panicked. Without someone to escort them, they were sitting ducks. Spike clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

"Let's get to that building." Spike said solemnly. The others nodded in acknowledgement. They ran towards a large building with statues on the top of it. As they sprinted.,Megatron came from around the corner, tossing cars out of his way.

"Come here, tiny creatures. I don't bite. Much." Megatron grinned.

A few blocks away, the Autobots were still firing at Demolishor. Without Ratchet and Ironhide, they were losing offensive power. "With Ratchet and Ironhide down, and Prime preoccupied, we won't be able to take out Demolishor!" Prowl yelled. We need extra fire power." While they were firing, Bumblebee and Sideswipe gritted their teeth, and began to crawl out of the alleyway they were placed in. They had to use the last of their energy reserves to crawl over to the other Autobots, who were firing behind cover made from a few tractor trailers. There was an overwhelming pain in their lower body. "Bumblebee, Sideswipe, what are you doing?" Prowl asked as he saw the two out of the corner of his optic.

"Helping." Sideswipe said, as he fired flares at Demolishor. Bumblebee began firing as well. Demolishor gritted his teeth and kept firing, even though he was nearly out of ammo. He wasn't about to let Autobots defeat him. He'd rather fight and die, than live with the knowledge that he ran. The Autobots didn't let up for a moment. Demolishor felt his spark starting to strain, but he didn't care. He kept on going. Suddenly, he felt his spark begin to shrink, then explode causing him to fall to the ground. His red optics stopped glowing as the life left his body. At that moment, the Autobots knew that Demolishor was dead.

Down the street, the humans were running as fast as there little legs could carry them, while Megatron was chasing after them. They darted inside the abandoned building. They saw a stair case and ran. They darted up the stairs and were on the third floor, by the time Megatron burst through the wall on the first floor. He roared like a lion. "You can run, but you can't hide! I can smell your fear!" Megatron growled.

They were on the third floor, and running towards a stair case that led to the roof. Megatron came up from behind them, trying to grab them, and destroying the floor behind them. They began to panic. They ran up the stairs and they were out on the roof. They reached the end of the roof, and skid to a stop. The roof gave them a big overview of the destroyed city. Smoke filled the air, and rubble was scattered about. They looked down, and boy was it a long drop. Sari nearly broke down, and Chip began to hyperventilate. Soon, Megatron came up from behind them. On the roof of the neighboring building was Soundwave and Thundercracker.

"Is fear or courage that compels you to run, little humans?" Megatron asked while approaching them. "If you come with me, I can promise you your safety. I will make you my pets in my new world order. What do you say?" Megatron asked while grinning. Chip and Sari felt like giving up. If it meant they would survive, they would gladly surrender. Carly and Sparkplug were just paralyzed with fear.

"No. We aren't going with you. You can forget it!" Spike yelled.

"Oh? Such a disappointment." Megatron drew his energy mace, and swung it at the footing that the humans were on, causing them to fall from the large height. Spike and Carly held onto each other screaming for the lives. Sari had broken down at this point, and was crying profusely. They closed their eyes at what they thought was their last living moments, but they landed on Optimus Prime, who was wedged between two buildings.

"Don't worry, I've got you. Hold on!" Optimus said. He slid down the wall and jumped from building to building while descending. Optimus heard yelling, and looked up to see Megatron above, falling after him. Optimus, Megatron and the humans landed in an alleyway. Megatron got up, and revolted in horror as he saw a human in front of him. The human was breathing rapidly and was panicking. He may have even wet his pants.

"Disgusting!" Megatron yelled. He flicked the human into a car.

Optimus slowly got up, and dropped the humans onto the ground. "Listen. If I cannot defeat Megatron, you need to run. As fast as you can, and don't look back. Call for help. Somebody, anybody. Now get behind me. Optimus said as he stood up tall.

"It's just you and me now, Megatron!' Optimus said.

"No, it's just me, Prime!" Megatron growled.

"At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall!" Optimus exclaimed.

"Why through away your life so recklessly?" Megatron asked.

"That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron!" Optimus said, while standing tall.

"No!, I will destroy you with my bare hands! Megatron tackled Optimus, and slammed him into a traffic light. "You still fight for the weak! That's why you lose. Your loyalty to these disgusting creatures!" The two metal behemoths tore into each other, exchanging smack talk, and powerfull punches. The humans ran in the opposite direction of Prime and Megatron. They ducked into an alleyway, but soon heard helicopter rotors. They turned around, and saw Blackout transform and land in the street. He drew a blaster and a propeller blade, and was sneaking up behind Optimus. Spike knew what Blackout planned to do. Spike ran out of the alley and onto the street.

"Hey, big ugly!" Spike exclaimed as he yelled at the top of his lungs. Blackout turned around and saw the human. He aimed at Spike, him, but before he could do anything, the Autobots began firing at him. The overwhelming amount of firepower caused Blackout to topple over, and fall to the ground.

Optimus and Megatron where still fighting. Megatron got the upper hand, and blasted his fusion cannon through Optimus' lower torso. Prime screamed in agony, and clenched his bleeding torso as he fell to the ground. Megatron was about to fire, but his fusion cannon was out of rounds. He dropped it, and picked up a purple pistol. He approached Optimus and pointed the gun at Prime's head, with his finger on the trigger.

"I would've waited an eternity for this! It's over, Prime." Megatron said while grinning, he was about to fire, but Spike was yelling at him from down the street.

"Hey, big ugly! I'm the one you want!" Spike shouted. Megatron paid him no mind, and was going to fire, but that one second of inactivity prompted Optimus put his fists together and whacked Megatron in the face, and breaking his jawline, and sending his face plate and energon flying. Optimus punched Megatron in the chest, sending the tyrant falling to the ground. Optimus stood over him, triumphantly. He then collapsed from his injuries. The Autobots and humans ran up to him to make sure he was ok.

"Optimus!" Spike shouted. Everyone circled around him.

"It's OK. I've been through worse." Optimus said. "The stakes, have just never been this high."Ratchet and Prowl helped Optimus up. Optimus went over to Spike and the humans. "Spike, I owe you my life. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here right now. For a tiny creature, you and your friends are very brave. You've earned my gratitude and my respect." Although Prime had his face mask on, Spike knew Prime was still beaming. Carly and Sparkplug ran up to Spike and hugged each other tightly.

"I'm so proud of you." Sparkplug said crying.

Sari ran up to Chip, and hugged him as she began to cry. Chip wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. Optimus soon realized that his race and the humans race aren't that different. Jazz was carrying the remains of Cliffjumper. "We couldn't save him, Optimus."

"Cliffjumper." Optimus said as he walked over to his fallen comrade. "He was a fierce warrior. But now he shall rest peacefully. He has become one with the Allspark. The Allspark is one spark, and every spark is one spark, and in this way we are all connected. May his wires never cross, and may his luster never dull."

Megatron lay on the ground, as his spark flickered. Soundwave approached him. "Don't leave me, Soundwave." Megatron said as he struggled to speak.

"As you command, Megatron." Soundwave said. He and the rest of the Decepticons picked up their wounded, and dead, and they flew away from the city...

 **Epilogue 1**

 _With our ship destroyed, we may never return to Cybertron. But fate has yielded a greater reward. A new place to call home, and new friends as well. I have witnessed the good of these humans. They are courageous, brave, loving, caring. We are made of metal and wires. They are made of flesh and bone. Despite that, we couldn't be more similar. There is more to these tiny creatures than truly meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any Autobot's who are seeking refuge among the stars. Please, discard your bias, your prejudice and your hatred. We welcome you with open arms. These people welcome you with open arms. We are here. We are waiting._

 **Epilogue 2**

On a higher plane of existence, the sparks of Cliffjumper and Demolisher are floating through the cosmos. They soon encounter a well, filled with billions and billions of sparks. Their sparks go closer to this well, and the barriers that make their sparks individual from all the others shatters. Their spark essence joins with the spark of their creator, Primus, and they all become one!

 **End of Part 1**

 **And here we are at the end of Part 1, but the story is only just beginning! I'm so glad that everyone has been enjoying the story so far. The positive feedback inspires me to keep going. You guys rock! Until next time!**


	13. Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

**Authors Note: So the series will be taking on a new format. Each story is broken up unto Acts, Parts and Chapters. Each Act will have no more than 4 parts, and each part will have an indefinite amount of chapters, depending on the length of the story. Even though it says chapter 1 again, you could still technically refer to this chapter as chapter 13. I also added subtitles to different parts of each chapter. It's a little something I'm experimenting with. If you guys like it, I'll keep it. If you don't, I'll 86 it.**

 **Act 1 Part 2 Chapter 1**

 **Over the Cuckoo's Nest!**

 _Conquest is the ashes of one's enemies. That was the one thing that I learned, that I understood, when the planet of Praum fell to the Decepticons. There was a time where I once admired Megatron. I believed he was powerful. I believed the lies that he told us. "I am a god?" God my afterburner. As time went on, we and the Autobots became stalemated. A stalemate that lasted for thousands of years. I soon began to recognize that Megatron isn't the leader of our time. He has gotten us nowhere. If we are going to win, we need new leadership. I was destined to lead, and I will not make the same mistake as that bucket headed fool._

Starscream had ceased his inner monologue as his optics glowed red once more. He floated inside a vat of green fluid, and could see red optics staring at him from outside. Soon, the fluid began to drain from the chamber, and the door slowly opened, letting out a cloud of warm steam. The feeling slowly but surely came back to Starscream's arms and legs. The clamps that kept him in place released him, and he stumbled out of the Cryogenic Regeneration Chamber. The cold air touched his metal skin sending shivers down his endoskeleton. He placed his hand on his forehead to sooth the aching. He saw his helmet on the table in front of him. He went over to pick it up, put it on and then turned to address the bot who was watching him all the while.

The bot in the room with him had four arms, two large ones attached to his shoulders, and two smaller ones on the sides of his torso. He was black and gray with red paint. He had the kibble of a 1960 Cadillac Hearse. "Glad to see that you've finally come around. I was beginning to worry." The bot spoke in a German accent.

"Nice to see you too, Flatline." Starscream grumbled. The seeker was still cranky because of what happened at the cell block. He lowered his head as the vision was slowly restored. "Any interesting developments in my absence?" He asked.

"Well-

Before Flatline could finish, several Decepticon medics walked into the ward carrying the bodies of Megatron, Blackout and Demolishor. The medics all shared the 256-OZU-004 body type. They rushed over to the CR Chambers, and used a voice command activation code to open them. Megatron and Blackout were placed inside separate chambers. Metal clamps had secured them in placed, and they closed hatches. One medic typed a command into a keypad on the CR chambers, causing them to fill up with water. They let Megatron and Blackout soak for five minutes, then they drained the water, and typed another command into the keypad, causing it to fill up the green fluid Starscream had floated in not too long ago. Demolishor's body was hastily thrown onto an operating table during that time.

"He's dead, sir." said one of the medics. She was quite soft spoken. She wore a white helmet, and her face was navy blue. Her chassis, arms and legs were teal, purple and white. She had cybertronic kibble, which meant she hadn't scanned an Earthen alt mode like most other Decepticons. Most likely because she spent all of her time in the ward.

"Cause of death?" Flatline asked. He walked over to Demolishor. He put on magnifying goggles, took out a scanner and scanned Demolishor's body for any potential technopathogens.

"Spark strain. He exerted more energy than he had in his fuel cells." She said.

For the first time, Starscream was genuinely surprised. He saw the medics scurrying about with datapads and medical equipment. He saw Megatron and Blackout floating in the chambers of green liquid. With Megatron inactive, the Decepticons were in a state of disarray, and Starscream saw an opportunity. Starscream put on his trademark smirk, and slipped out of the medical ward while the medics went to work.

 **Aftermath!**

Ratchet was in the Ark's medical bay, working himself down to his endoskeleton. He rushed back and forth, jotting down notes on his datapad, and using his laser scalpels to patch up Bumblebee and Sideswipe's wounds. The two injured bots lay on operating tables, unconscious as Ratchet removed their broken legs, and replaced them with new ones. Ratchet carefully pulled the damaged legs out of their sockets. He grabbed two replacement legs that he and Wheeljack built, and fastened the joints into the empty sockets. Ratchet would normally have the Diagnostic Drone assist him, but after DD left the ground bridge unattended, he was sure that DD had a few bugs.

The other Autobots were in the lounge, resting and refueling. Arcee sat on the floor, crisscrossed while tapping away at a virtual game on her datapad. Attached to her were several tubes and the tubes were attached to a glowing generator. "Dammit." She mumbled as her datapad made a buzzing noise and the words "GAME OVER" flashed on the screen.

Jazz, and Bulkhead were siting at a table. Jazz had a set of holo cards in his hands, as did Bulkhead. "How you feeling about Cliffjumper?" Bulkhead asked while shuffling his holo cards. Jazz sighed, and tried to collect his thoughts.

"I still feel bad about it. I shoulda been able to do somehting y'know? Me and Cliff go way back, too. I first met Cliffjumper at a music festival in Middle Uriplex, back on Cybertron." Jazz began. "He said he was part of Sentinel Prime's security force. We talked, and he mentioned how tensions were brewing between the Senate and the lower classes. He told me that War was inevitable. I didn't believe him, but the cons attacked the festival. They said it was an act of protest. To show the Senate, that they meant business. I joined the security force that day, and me and Cliffjumper became partners. Almost like what the humans call 'good cop, bad cop'. Got any 5s?" Jazz asked while looking at his cards.

"Go Sharkticon," Bulkhead replied. Jazz drew a card from the deck. "I never knew Cliffjumper. I was apart of the Primal Vanguard. Offworld peacekeeping. Y'know, with Elita-One, and Ultra Magnus, and Grimlock, and Hound, and-

"Bulk, I know who the Primal Vanguard were. No need to tell me twice." Jazz said.

"Well, yeah. After the war broke out, I joined the Wreckers. We went on many tours together. The Battle Of Darkmount Pass, Operation: Volcano, the Battle for Hell's Point. What about you? Bulkhead asked. "Any war stories you want to share?

"I served in the invasion of Kalis. The one with Bruticus Maximus." Jazz replied.

While the two were talking, Prowl was getting a mug full of engex, and a chocolate covered wheel nut. Wheeljack had tools in hand and was operating on the Diagnostic Drone's exposed central processing unit. Beside him were several microchips. He used tweezers to remove DD's old microchips, and he installed new ones.

Elsewhere on the ship, the humans were sitting in a small room, which originally acted as a safe deposit box. There was nothing in the room, save for a makeshift bench that Wheeljack made. They were all cold, tired and hungry. Spike and Chip leaned against the wall. Sparkplug and Carly sat on the bench, while Sari just stood in the corner by herself. There was nothing to do, and no one was in the mood to talk to one another. After what felt like forever, the door open. They were glad to see outside of the box and walked out onto a railing to see Optimus standing in front of them. The rest of the Autobots had gathered in the ground bridge room, however Sideswipe was absent from the group. A minute later, he showed up and fell in line as if nothing happened. "You're late again." Ratchet whispered to Sideswipe.

"It has been a long day for all of us. Now it is time that we sent the humans home." Optimus began. "However, the Decepticons are aware of our connection with them, which makes them targets of interest for our enemies. As such I have delegated each human an Autobot to accompany and guard them."

Some of the Autobots shuttered at the thought. Prowl sneered, while Bulkhead took a hard swallow. They wouldn't dare disobey a direct order from Optimus Prime, but having to ride around and babysit organics didn't sound like a fun time. From what they knew about humans, they were full of disgusting fluid that they would constantly spew out of their crevices. Humans also liked to make physical contact with mates, especially when inside of vehicles. Despite this the Autobots kept their complaints and gripes to themselves, lest they get reprimanded by Optimus.

"Bumblebee, you shall accompany Spike and Sparkplug Witwicky. Sideswipe, you shall accompany Sari. Arcee, you shall accompany Carly. Bulkhead, you shall accompany Chip. Are we clear?" Optimus asked.

The respective Autobots nodded in acknowledgement. Optimus walked over to the ground bridge, and input the coordinates of a freeway that lead to the neighborhood that the humans lived in. He pulled the lever, causing the blue portal to appear in the ground bridge frame. Autobots, transform!" Optimus commanded. Sideswipe, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead transformed. Each of them opened one of their doors, and let their respective humans inside. "Roll Out!" Those four Autobots drove through the portal, while the others stayed behind, and watched the portal close. With the humans gone, Prowl saw it appropriate to ask Optimus a question.

"With all do respect, great Optimus, is it wise to keep these humans around? They could be a security violation, or worse." Prowl argued.

"You're concerns are noted, Prowl. But I have faith in the young Autobots. I know they will do their jobs well." Optimus said. He put his hand on Prowl's shoulder to reassure him. Prowl maintained his neutral expression. He played it off as if everything were cool, but deep down, he was unsatisfied with that answer.

 **Deadly Game!**

Starscream was pacing back and forth in his office impatiently. He was urged to leave the medical bay by Flatline, so the medics could operate. He was eagerly awaiting the news on the fate of Lord Megatron. If Megatron was dead, he could make a bid for leadership, but if Megatron wasn't, Starscream would have to play some deadly games and pull off some smart maneuvers to come out on top. Megatron's Leadership had caused the Decepticons to become stalemated. Ever since then, Starscream had been looking for something to help in tip the balance of the war, in the Decepticon's favor. Starscream's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "What do you want?" He asked.

The door slid open, revealing three tiny mini-cons, all of the exact same size, and mold. They had a purple, gray and green chest, with gray and purple arms and legs. They were all identical, except the middle one had a camera lens on his torso. "You asked me to retrieve the files that the human decrypted. I have them." All three robots said in unison. The middle one extended his arm and had a purple data slug in hand.

"It's about time" Starscream growled. He grabbed the data slug. He was going to gesture the mini cons to go away, but Soundwave's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Attention all units: Megatron shall be in Cryogenic Regeneration for the next 72 cycles. I am in charge in his stead. There is to be no military action in his absence. That is all." Soundwave said. Starscream clenched his fist. The game had became much harder now. However, he remained confident. If he played his cards right, 72 cycles would be nothing. He inserted the data slug into a port on his datapad, and downloaded all the information. He then attached a cord from his datapad to a port on the back of his head. He downloaded the information into his hard drive and processed it all. Once it was finished, he grinned slyly.

"Thank you for your assistance, Reflector. For this, you shall be rewarded greatly." Starscream said. The middle bot raised his eye brow. Starscream had an interesting way with words, and what he said had a certain ambiguity that made Reflector slightly uncomfortable. Reflector turned around and left the room, and the door closed behind them. Starscream sat at this desk, and thought to himself.

"All I need to do now is convince the other Decepticons to follow me. Barricade and Nightbird will be easy to convince. Lugnut is a loyal buffoon, but he's still in CR after his fight with that brute, Shulkhead. Blackout is also in CR. The rest of the seekers will follow me, so that only leaves Soundwave left. Soundwave is clever, so I'm going to have to be very cautious with him." Starscream thought.

Later that day, Soundwave was walking down the hall by himself, with his data pad in hand, analyzing some data. Unbeknownst to him, Starscream was using magna clamps to attach himself to the top of the ceiling. The moment Soundwave walked past, Starscream jumped down and put Soundwave in a tight choke hold. He put a stun gun up to Soundwave's head, and fired, causing a powerful volt to surge through Soundwave's systems, which caused him to shut down, and fall over.

Starscream grabbed Soundwave before he could hit the ground. He threw the unconscious bot over his shoulder, and found a supply closet. The door slid open, he threw Soundwave in, and closed the door. With that, Starscream was in the clear.

 **Hook, Line and Sinker!**

"We have a situation on our hands, ladies and gentlemen!" said Agent Fowler as he slammed his fist on a table. Sitting at the table was Director Faireborn, Garrison Blackrock, Raoul, and Professor Sumdac. They sat in a dark room, illuminated by a single overhead light. Blackrock and Faireborn were paying close attention. Raoul had his feet up on the table, and his hands behind his head. Sumdac tried to pay attention, but something was bothering him. "Las Angeles is in ruins, and there is millions of dollars worth of property damage. We have extra terrestrial life forms on our planet, and no matter whatever elaborate cover story we come up with, the entire Californian population is on edge! We have got to do something!" Fowler looked at Raoul. "And boy, if you don't get your feet of this table, I will pop you upside your head!" he exclaimed.

Raoul put his feet down, sat up straight and turned to address Fowler. "Alien robots who change into everyday vehicles? Sounds like something G.I. Joe or M.A.S.K could handle." Raoul said.

"While that is a good suggestion Mr. Hernandez, those two groups are busy dealing with terrorist organizations. Cobra and Venom have those two occupied. Our resources are spread thin." Fowler replied.

"Might I suggest something, Agent Fowler?" Blackrock asked. "These are robots we're talking about. Machines. They are likely fighting for fuel. In fact, that big discover my company made, Sumdac says it's some kind of super fuel. Plus, these robots have been targeting my company. Perhaps we could create some kind of fake energy signal to lure those robots out, so we can get the drop on em'? Blackrock suggested.

"That may actually work." Fowler said, while stroking his chin.

"I'll ready the E.D.C strike force." Faireborn said.

They were all in agreement. Sumdac however, was worried other matters. His daughter hasn't contacted him and a while, and she could be hurt. He would feel awful if that was the case.

 **Thief in the Night!**

The Autobots were driving on the freeway. Sari was inside Sideswipe, and she rested her head against the window, and stared out. She thought about Spike and Sparkplug. She thought about all the time they spent together. She thought of how relieved each other felt when they realized that the other was OK. Sari couldn't help but sigh. Her father was a bioengineer who worked for Blackrock Enterprises. That meant he didn't have much time to spend with her. Sari also didn't have a mother. She usually spent her time hanging out with her only friends, Spike, Chip and Carly.

Sideswipe noticed how quiet she was. He thought she would start leaking water from her eyes. He learned that humans did that when they were upset, and he did not want any salty tears on his brand new leather seats. "Hey, what's wrong, kiddo?" Sideswipe asked. "I don't want any doom and gloom getting all over my seats!" he chuckled.

"Nothing Sideswipe, I just." She stopped. Why would she tell this to a robot. An unfeeling robot who wouldn't even have a mom or a dad. "It's a family matter. I don't think you'd understand." She responded.

Sideswipe almost screeched to a halt, but he kept going. "Family matter? I wouldn't understand?" Sideswipe thought to himself. "You wouldn't know the half of it, sister!"

Inside of Bulkhead, Chip was certainly perplexed by this turn of events. The questions kept coming back to him. Robots aren't normally programmed with emotions. Yet they mourned when Cliffjumper died. Robots have no god, nor religion. Yet, the prayed that their fallen friend would have safe travels in the "afterlife". Chip needed to get answers to these questions. Suddenly, a missile came from the sky and landed in front of Bulkhead, creating an explosion.

"Look out!" Bulkhead shouted as he swerved to evade the missile. Several black trucks stopped on the freeway. Several men in black suits fired smoke bombs, creating a thick cloud of smoke. Now people were panicking. The freeway was in complete disarray. One of the men in the suits pulled out a walkie talkie.

"Silas, the smoke bombs are active, what now?" he asked.

"Get the big one."

A helicopter flew over head, and shot a net down into the smoke cloud. The net landed on Bulkhead, and the men pulled out EMP launchers which disabled Bulkhead's circuitry. With the net over him, the helicopter began to carry Bulkhead off of the freeway. Chip was still inside, and was banging on the door. "Let me out! Help!" He shouted, but no one could hear him. The helicopter flew off, and when the smoke cleared, the rest of the Autobots were none the wiser.

"What was all that about?" Bumblebee asked.

"Beats me, but we should warn Optimus. It could be Decepticons!" Arcee replied.

"I don't think so. The Decepticons took a major loss. I doubt they'd do anything this quickly." Bumblebee said. He activated his comm. "Optimus, we've got a problem.

"What's the problem, Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.

"Chip and Bulkhead, they're gone!"


	14. Needle in a Haystack

**Act 1 Part 2 Chapter 2**

 **So last chapter, Bulkhead mentioned a lot of events and characters. Characters such as Ultra Magnus and Hound. For anyone wondering, they will be appearing in the series at a later date. Don't fret however, fans of Transformers Prime and the Transformers comics will be in for a treat in the next few chapters ;)**

 **Needle in a Haystack!**

Bumblebee drove down a narrow alleyway. Water splashed against his sides, as he kept his optics open, searching for any trace of their missing friends. It was cold that night. He activated his internal heating system to keep himself warm. There was a slight drizzle. He activated his windshield wipers as the rain landed on his windshield. He drove past alley cats and litter. The cats hissed at him, and scurried off, splashing and sloshing in the puddles. Bumblebee had his headlights on, so he could see in front of him.

Arcee, was driving around a scrapyard. She drove by tall piles of broken down cars and scrap metal. All the destroyed automobiles gave her an uneasy feeling, but she kept on looking. The damaged machines reminded her of her friends and comrades that died as a result of millions of years of war. Old wounds began to open up, and she began to panic, almost losing her balance and falling over. The junkyard had dirt roads, and because it was raining, Arcee was getting mud all over her tires. It was very unpleasant. She felt as if she was in the middle of a trench, wandering through a filthy ditch to find her lost platoon.

Sideswipe was driving near a multi story parking lot. He scanned the area, only to find nothing that could point him in the right direction. They all had been searching for hours. They had already searched the highway where they were attacked, but no trace of Bulkhead was left behind. Sideswipe had decided to give up looking, and found a place to power down for a while, but he looked into his rear view mirror and saw a shady figure. The figure had a skull on, and a torn up sweater. Sideswipe suspected that the man would try to "steal" him if he were to power down, so he just kept on driving.

Back at the Ark, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl and Wheeljack were in the command center. Optimus stood on his platform, while the others sat at computers, checking the radars for any sign of their lost comrade. They were overseeing the search, while Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Arcee were out looking. Prowl had then received a message from Sideswipe. "We've got a message, it's from Sideswipe." Prowl projected it on to the big screen.

"What's the situation, Sideswipe?" Optimus asked while he folded his arms.

"With all do respect sir, I don't think we're going to find Bulkhead. We've been searching for cycles and we still haven't found anything. Whoever did this, they're good." Sideswipe said.

"Are you suggesting we leave Bulkhead? That's not how we roll, Sideswipe. I will not rest knowing that one of my soldiers, no, one of my friends and an innocent boy are unaccounted for, and could potentially be harmed!" Optimus shouted as he placed his hands on the railing. That's the kind of reaction Sideswipe would expect. Optimus lived by a 'no man left behind' mentality, and Sideswipe knew that. There had been times that Optimus has halted entire military operations, just to find a missing Autobot.

"I'm sorry sir. I'll keep looking, sir." Sideswipe said.

"Thank you Sideswipe. I'm sorry for snapping. I just, hope Bulkhead and Chip are OK." Optimus replied.

Sideswipe nodded and signed off. This behavior was understandable. First Cliffjumper died, and now Bulkhead was missing. The Autobots felt as if their numbers were dwindling. A feeling of fear and dread hung over them. However, the Autobots weren't the only ones who were worried.

Spike, Carly and Sari were at Chip's house. Chip lived in a two story house down the street from Spike, with an attic and a garage. There was a lot of high tech, and high priced devices and appliances there. Chip's dad worked for a software company, Onyx, which was owned by Blackrock Enterprises. Chip's mom was a lawyer. Chip's family always liked to be up to date when it came to technology. They had a 4K UHD TV, and a Playstation 4 in the family room. The family room had clean white couches, a dark wood coffee table with a few coasters, and a fireplace. Spike admired the 4K TV, he could never have imagined having something like that to himself. Spike and Carly sat on the couch beside Mr. and Mrs. Chase. Mrs. Chase was sobbing and blowing into a tissue while Mr. Chase was rubbing her and held her hand to comfort her. Sari was sitting on the floor in front of the TV with glasses on, playing _Knack._ Spike and Carly thought they should say something to cheer up Chip's parents.

"Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Chase. Chip's a smart kid. I'm sure he knows what he's doing." Carly said.

"I know, but." Mrs. Chase paused, and tried to prevent herself from breaking down again. "It doesn't seem like Chip to get easily separated from the group so easily. I mean, he's gone camping before."

Spike and Carly froze up at that comment. They had lied to her about what really happened to Chip. They told them that he had gotten lost on a camping trip. It was the only thing they could tell them. If they found out that Chip was captured alongside an alien robot, they'd totally lose it. They could only hope that the Autobots would find Chip sooner, they didn't know if they could keep up the lie.

Spike looked over at Sari, who was till playing. He was irked that he and Carly were trying to comfort Chip's parents, while Sari was playing video games. He walked over to her. "Aren't you worried?" Spike asked.

"I am worried. Chip's a friend, why wouldn't I be?" Sari asked while keeping her attention on the screen.

"Well you sure aren't acting like it." Spike replied."Chip's parents are distraught, and all you are doing is playing a half decent platformer on their PS4."

"Well I guess I can't relate that well." Sari said.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked. "Have you never cared about anyone in your life? Spike asked. Sari turned around and gave Spike an ugly look.

"I was raised a single child, I was home schooled up until 9th grade, and my father barely has the time to talk to me. Unlike you, I wasn't raised going to a normal school, or interacting with normal people. My only friends as a child were a mustached plumber and a blue hedgehog. I've spent 45% of my life hunched over in a dark room playing video games." Sari snapped.

Spike took a step back. He didn't mean to touch a nerve or anything. He could obviously tell that there was something wrong with her. "Look I'm sorry, Sari. I didn't mean to open up any old wounds, I just-

"I don't want your pity, Spike." Sari said, as she turned around, and went back to playing.

 **Cat and Mouse!**

Starscream walked into the command center. No one was in there. He went over to the loud speaker and spoke into it. "Attention all seekers, Soundwave has requested that we meet in the hanger bay". The seekers looked at each other confused. Soundwave said no military activity was allowed for the next few orbital cycles. They shrugged it off. It was best not to disobey an order. Within the cycle, a squadron of seekers met in the hanger. Among them was Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Slipstream. Starscream walked into the hanger and went over to the squadron to address them.

"My brothers and sisters, Soundwave has detected an energy reading coming from a state the humans refer to as "Alaska". He has requested that we go there and investigate these readings, and report back to him." Starscream explained.

"Wait." Slisptream said while holding up her hand. "Soundwave explicitly stated no military action in Megatron's absence."

"Oh, Slipsteam. It's not technically military action, now is it? Think of it as just a scouting mission. Just like the old days on Trypticon Station." Starscream said. He walked up to her and put his finger under her chin, and softly lifted her head up, so that both of their optics met. "Besides, these readings could prove beneficial to us. For the good of the empire an all that, no?" Starscream put on a reassuring smile, and tried to look as sincere as possible. Slipstream turned away, and fell back in line, and stood ready to serve. This caused Starscream to smirk. "We shall leave immediately. Decepticons, deploy!" Starscream commanded.

The seekers transformed and flew out of the hanger. They flew in "V" formation, with Starscream at the forefront of the group. Starscream was glad. Everything was going perfectly.

At the Ark, the Autobots were still in the command center, overseeing the search. An energy reading popped up on Wheeljack's radar. "Optimus Prime, I've just picked up an energy reading in a place called Alaska." said Wheeljack. This caught Optimus Prime's attention. If the Decepticons had detected the same reading, they would likely go for it as well. Prime knew they had to check it out, but he also wanted to keep searching for Bulkhead. A light bulb lit up in Prime's head.

"We will let Bumblebee and the others continue their search for Bulkhead. In the meantime, me, Ratchet and Prowl will go to Alaska to investigate those readings. Ironhide, and Jazz remain here and oversee the search, and Wheeljack is on ground bridge duty. Am I clear?" Optimus asked.

"Clear!" Everyone said in unison. Ratchet, Prowl and Wheeljack got up from their chairs, and climbed out of their bunkers. They walked into the ground bridge room. Wheeljack ran to his workshop, and collected his tool box, and the Diagnostic Drone. He entered the coordinates and opened the ground bridge. Optimus, Ratchet and Prowl transformed and drove through the portal. Wheeljack closed it after they left out. He grabbed his tool box, and continued his repairs on DD.

The ground bridge opened and Optimus, Ratchet and Prowl drove out on the other side. They were in a tundra near a mining shaft. There was a slight breeze. Ratchet opened a flap on his arm revealing thermo scanner. "This seems to be a much colder region. As such, our circuitry May be vulnerable to lower temperatures, so it's best we don't stay out here for too long." Ratchet said. They heard loud booms and looked up into the gray sky, and saw nine jet fighters. Three of them were F-15s, while the rest were cybertronic jets. They swooped down and transformed, landing on a cliff that stood above the Autobots.

"Optimus Prime? What are you doing here? Don't you have to lick the wounds of your pathetic warriors?" Starscream asked.

"Last I recall, it was the Autobots who were victorious in Los Angeles." Optimus replied. Starscream growled at this comment. "There is no need to fight, Starscream. Megatron has lead you down the wrong path. If both our factions worked together, we could possibly return to Cybertron and end our war." Optimus had always hoped to make peace with the Decepticons. In fact, after the Autobots left Cybertron, he hoped to organize peace talks with the Decpeticon Conclave to end the war. Naturally, things didn't go as planned.

"Oh, please! Don't bore me with your saccharine speech, Optimus Prime. I, I mean, we Decepticons shall return home, and we shall rebuild Cybertron, and this planet will bend to our will! Decepticons, attack!" Starscream commanded. The Decepticons were about to fire, but they stopped when they saw multiple military men and tanks approach them, all of them bearing an insignia that said "E.D.C." The tanks and men took aimmed at both factions. The hatch on one of the tanks opened, and Marissa Faireborn climbed out of the tank, and grabbed a megaphone.

"Attention, machines. You are on United States soil. Surrender yourselves immediately or we will open fire!" She commanded.

"How adorable." Starscream said in a patronizing tone.. "The humans are trying to fight back."

 **Operation: Bulkhead!**

"Where am I?" Chip thought to himself. He slowly sat upright. Without his glasses he could barely see anything. He reached to the left him and felt around for something. He felt glasses, and he raced to put them on his face. He could finally see, and he looked around to see that he was in an emergency room. He was in a hospital bed, and he was wearing a hospital gown. He looked up in front of him and saw three people in the room with him. The first one was a middle aged Caucasian man who wore a military uniform that didn't belong to the United States Army. He had a scar on his nose and over his eye. He had trimmed hair and his facial expression was a mean scowl.

The man on the left of him was old and wrinkly. He had gray hair that made him look like Dr. Emmett Brown. He wore metal plating the top of his head and he wore a white lab coat.

The woman on the right looked much younger than the two men. She seemed to be in her late twenties. She had long blonde hair, and freckles. She wore a green coat, a white shirt and red pants.

"Glad to see you are awake." said the man in the middle. He walked closer to Chip, giving the boy an apprehensive feeling. "Allow me to introduce ourselves. My name is Leland Bishop, but you can call me Silas." He gestured to the old man behind him. "This is Doctor Henri Arkeville, he specializes in biochemistry and robotics. He then gestured to the woman behind him. "This is his intern, Josie Beller. She is a MIT graduate."

Chip needed a second to process all of this. "What happened to me, who are you people?" Chip asked. Silas frowned more the usual at that question.

"Don't worry. All shall be revealed in time." He gestured for him to get out of bed. "Come with me." He said

Chip looked to the side of the bed and saw some shoes. She slipped into them, got up and followed Silas and his cohorts out the door. They walked down a long hallway, absent of windows or anybody else. "There is a reason you are here, Mr. Chase. Do you know why?" Chip nodded his head no. "You are here because of what's happened to you over the last few days. Do you believe aliens are real, Chip?" Chip froze up at that question. Now he knew why they were after him. It was the government, he thought.

"No." He replied. They reached the end of the hallway. Josie grabbed her keys, unlocked and opened the door.

"Well, then you wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you? He asked. They went inside the room, and Chip's jaw dropped to the floor. He saw Bulkhead's decapitated head in the room, attached to cords, cables and wires. Around Bulkhead were multiple scientists and engineers, picking him apart and studying him. They stripped Bulkhead of his face plate, revealing his endoskeleton which resembled a non living, unholy being. Chip looked into Bulkhead's optics and saw nothing but pain and sadness. Bulkhead's head was still attached to his spark, meaning he was still alive. Chip looked to the left of him and saw multiple drones who had the same body type as Bulkhead, but they all didn't have heads.

"You asked who we were, Chip? We are a group called Mechanical Engineering and Computer Hacking. You can call us M.E.C.H for short." said Silas as he grinned. "We know who you are, and we know that you know about these creatures. After all, why else would you accompany them? You are a young, smart kid. We here at M.E.C.H need people like you and your friends. Carly, Spike, Sari. All very smart children. Straight As and Bs, all year long. I was hoping to catch more of your friends, but we wouldn't want to be too greedy now would we?"

Chip clenched his fists. "What do you want from me?" he asked.

"We want you to join us. Come work for us." Silas replied.

"And what do you plan on doing with these machines?" Chip asked.

"We plan on ushering in a new technological era. Times are changing, and we know that we are not alone in the universe. If we don't evolve, we will be wiped out. What happened in Los Angeles is proof of that. We plan on showing these people the truth about the cosmos, and we will do that by force." Silas explained.

"And why would I work for a group of terrorists?" Chip asked. 'Terrorists'. He didn't know why he used that word, but in this situation it felt appropriate.

"Because, Mr. Chase. We know how you are. We know where you live. Your oh so precious family. We know all about them too." Silas replied. 'If you don't do what we ask, we will kill them, and not just your family, your friends as well, and I will make you watch."

Chip wanted to cry. He just wanted to break down in tears, but he couldn't. He couldn't let his captors know that he was scared. If he did, then they would have won. Chip tried not to let it get to him. He held back his tears and his anger. "Fine, I'll help you. Just please, don't hurt my family, or my friends."

Silas smiled. "I knew you'd see things my way." Silas turned around to face the door. "Come along now, Mr. Chase. We have work to be done." Chip followed behind, Silas, Arkeville and Josie. They walked out of the laboratory. On the way out, Chip saw a half open door. He got a glimps inside the room and saw another decapitated Transformer. This one looked drastically different from Bulkhead. This robot had red optics with a flip down visor. It had a black helmet and it's face was colored beige. It had orange antlers on the side of it's head. Multiple wires and cables were attached to it, just like Bulkhead. It gave Chip an uneasy feeling, but he couldn't worry about that now. He had a long road ahead of him..


	15. Chaos

**Act 1, Part 2, Chapter 3**

 **Chaos!**

Her breathing began to get more and more rapid. People were running one way, while she was looking the other direction. Cries and screams were everywhere, creating a terrifying song that was music to the devil's ears. As crowds were running, some were getting trampled. People were looting stores, stealing from people, and attacking others to try and get to the nearest train out of the city. She even saw a mother surrounded by rubble, with her newborn child in her arms, scared for her life. She heard gunshots, and saw giant metal behemoths firing at each other. She looked to her left, and saw her grandmother, who was running on the sidewalk towards her. They had gotten separated in the chaos. She ran towards her grandmother, but stopped as she saw two more giant robots and three humans falling from a building. They landed in front of her grandmother, with the gray one nearest to her. "Disgusting!" It said, and it flicked her grandmother with its giant finger, which sent her flying into a taxi. She cried out for her grandmother, and as the two robots got up to fight each other, she ran over to her grandmother. She was shocked and horrified, and she sobbed. Her grandmother was dead..

Hours later, Chip was strapped down to a table by leather straps. His mouth was kept shut by a muzzle that made him feel like he was an animal being experimented on. He saw an overhead light, and multiple doctors and surgeons moving around him. He didn't want to struggle, because that would only make things worse. He looked out the corner of his eye, and saw Josie strapped down onto a table next to him. He saw Dr. Arkeville use a red marker to draw cutting lines around her right arm. He then watched as the doctors began amputating her right arm. He was appalled. If it weren't for the muzzle, he would've thrown up. They began inserting needles into her, and began installing cybernetic implants, derived from Cybertronian technology inside of her body. Chip thought this was a nightmare world, where mad scientists toyed with him as if they were the puppet masters, and he was the marionette. One of the doctors noticed that Chip was looking over at Josie. "Don't worry." He said, "You're up next." They didn't mark any cutting lines on him, but they did start inserting needles inside of him, and began installing cybernetic implants. As they did so, Chip felt his freedom slowly slipping away.

 **Lead Covered Ground!**

"We will not repeat ourselves. If you do not comply within the next 10 seconds, we will open fire!" Marissa exclaimed. Starscream just grinned. He was almost amused. He aimed and fired a cluster bomb at the human's tanks. "Fire!" Marissa shouted. The humans opened fired on the Autobots and Decepticons. The missile hit, creating an explosion that sent snow, dirt and soldiers flying. The remaining humans scattered for cover.

"Autobots, take cover!" Optimus ordered. The three Autobots ducked behind a few rocks for cover. Starscream and the seekers began firing at the rocks, despite the humans firing at them. Their firepower chipped away at the rock, and was wearing it down.

"Yo, Starscream. What do we do about the humans?" Skywarp asked while he fired at the Autobots. The human's firepower made it hard for the seekers to focus their attack.

"They are irrelevant. Focus your fire on the Autobots!" Starscream ordered. Ratchet peered from behind the rock, but immediately ducked when he saw saw the seekers were still firing. He grabbed a smaller rock and tossed it into the air, which drew the seekers' fire for a few seconds. The rock landed, and was the size of a pebble, which caused Ratchet to frown.

"With that kind of firepower, they'll mow us down in no time!" Ratchet said. Optimus thought to himself.

"I'll use my skyboom shield. It will only hold for a few astroseconds, so you're going to have to be quick. In that time, I want you to take my ion blaster and fire at the Decepticons. Prowl, you use your artillery and give me some cover. I'll get in close, and use my war axe to bring them down." Optimus ordered. He deployed his shield and drew his axe. He handed Ratchet his ion blaster, and Prowl primed the rocket launchers on his back. "On my mark. 3...2...1...mark!"

Optimus got up from behind the rock and charged towards the Decepticons. They were surprised that Optimus would pull off such a foolish maneuver. He pressed a button on his shield's handle which caused it to project an expanding blue force field, which absorbed the Decepticon's shots. Ratchet and Prowl flanked the Decepticons on either side. They fired as much as they could at the Decepticons. The two Decepticons on the farthest side of the group opened fire on the the flanking Autobots. Prowl fired missiles at two of the seekers, disorienting them. He then grabbed his acid pellet rifle and emptied a few shots into their chassis, causing them both to fall over and cry out in pain.

Ratchet fired the ion blaster at the two other seekers. It distracted them long enough for him to deploy his buzzsaw, and impale the two seekers with it.

Optimus' force field broke after a few more astroseconds, but he was close enough to swing his axe at Starscream. Starscream put his fists up and blocked the incoming attack. He punched Optimus in the face, knocking him off balance. Starscream was about to do more damage, but a tank shell struck him, sending him to the ground.

He growled in anger. "Decepticons, open fire on those humans!" Starscream had grown fed up with the fleshlings. Thundercracker and Skywarp fired cluster bombs at the tanks. They transformed and flew towards them, which prompted Ratchet and Prowl to fire at them both. Optimus used diffusion to disarm one of the seekers. He grabbed the seeker's firing arm, and struck her elbow joint with his elbow to prevent her from firing. He proceeded to grab her by the arm pull it behind her back and slam her head into the ground. Optimus then threw his axe at another seeker's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain. Ratchet and Prowl kept fighting the other seekers. Prowl shot a rocket, which hit Thundercracker, causing him to crash into one of the tanks. Prowl grabbed Thundercracker's wing and tossed him aside. He opened the tanks hatch and looked inside to see two startled troops. The troops were shivering in fear. One was about to reach for a gun.

"Don't worry. We're here to help. Tell your men to retreat. We'll give you cover fire." Prowl said. Suddenly, a cluster bomb hit Prowl in the back. Skywarp was was about to fire another, but Ratchet jumped onto his back. Skywarp tried to grab Ratchet, but Ratchet just shot at Skywarp with the ion blaster. Skywarp backed up and slammed his back against the wall, crushing Ratchet. Skywarp grabbed the Autobot, and threw him to the ground. Ratchet's armor was dented and he was leaking energon. Skywarp kicked the Autobot in the stomach a few times, and then aimed his machine gun at Ratchet's head.

"Wave good bye to your terminals, Autobot!" Skywarp yelled. Before he could do anything, a rocket hit him in the back. He turned and saw Marissa carrying a bazooka.

"Leave him alone, you tin plated moron!" Marissa yelled. Skywarp marched over to her, but was struck by a few bullets shot by Prowl. Skywarp looked at the wounds and felt a sharp sting coming from them, causing him to moan in pain.

"Have some acid pellets courtesy of my acid pellet rifle, Decepticreep!" Prowl exclaimed. Skywarp tried to fire, but the stinging kept bothering him. The acid melted right through his wing kibble. Prowl whipped out an energy baton and whacked Skywarp with it, sending powerful volts throughout the Decepticon's body. Skywarp screamed in agony as he was electrocuted. "You're toast, Skywarp!" Prowl quipped as Skywarp collapsed from overload. "Deceptitoast."

Meanwhile, Optimus was still busy fighting Slipstream. Optimus fought with his axe, while Slipstream fought with her dual blades. Sparks flew as their steel weapons clashed. "Leave it to Starscream to let his minions do the fighting for him. Spineless as usual." Optimus muttered as he clashed with Slipstream.

"Just like how you hide behind your minions?" Slipstream asked,

"The Autobots are not my 'minions'. They are my friends!" Optimus said as charged forward and swung at Slipstream. She blocked it with her blades, but Optimus tripped her sending her to the ground.

Optimus walked over to Slipstream. Slipstream expected Optimus to bury his axe into her spark chamber, but he didn't. He didn't do anything, but stand there over her like a frozen statue. "Aren't you going to finish me off? Slipstream asked.

"No" Optimus replied.

He turned his back to her "What?" Slipstream asked as she as struggled to get up. "We killed your friend, and attacked you, and you aren't gonna get payback?" She shouted.

Optimus, battle damaged, retracted his visor and turned to address Slipstream. "Death would be the easy way out for you Decepticons. If you died you would not face justice. What does a Prime stand for, if not justice?" Optimus asked. He turned back around and went over to check up on his friends.

While the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting, Starscream had slipped away from the battlefield and was deep inside the mineshaft. It was cold and damp in there, and he hated it. He soon felt heat radiating from somewhere, he turned the corner and stopped in his tracks. His eyes were wide, and his mouth agape. There, he saw a glowing pink ore embedded within the caverns. It was energon, in it's rawest form. What could raw energon be doing on Earth? Starscream thought as he examined the ore. He had no time to ponder, the other Decepticons would bee looking for him by now. Starscream walked out of the caverns and was flabbergasted to see that his Decepticons were defeated.

"Decepticons, retreat!" Starscream yelled. He transformed and flew to the sky. The other seekers did the same. Optimus walked over to Ratchet and helped him up.

"Ratchet, you're losing a lot of energon!" said Optimus with a worried expression.

"D-don't worry. I j-just need some CR time." Ratchet said, while nearly collapsing. Prowl helped the doctor walk. Optimus went over to the humans and approached them. He sheathed his axe and dropped his shield.

"I must thank you for your assistance. If it wasn't for you, Ratchet may have been terminated." said Optimus.

"Why did you help us?" Marissa asked.

"Because it was the right thing to do." Optimus responded. "Your world's military isn't strong enough to fight the Decepticons. You will need support if you ever hope of defeating them." Optimus said.

"What are you doing, Optimus?" Prowl asked.

"Making some new friends. Please, talk to your world's leaders. Convince them to let us stay here, and we will help you battle the Decepticons." Optimus said to Marissa. She nodded, and Optimus backed away. "Wheeljack, ground bridge us back to the Ark. a blue portal opened, so Optimus, Prowl and Ratchet walked through and it disappeared. The humans began to pull out of Alaska. Marissa could only help but ponder about the recent turn of events.

 **Fight or Flee!**

Chip sat in a small room with Dr. Arkeville, and was outfitted with a metal suit. There was a blank look in his eye, as if he was a clean slate. Good as new. "Are you finished with the operation, Doctor?" Silas asked from a monitor.

"Yes. Chip Chase and Josie Beller are now M.E.C.H property. That means the preparations for my, I mean, our 'Neo Knights' and our Autotroopers are almost complete. All that is left to do are some small modifications." Arkeville replied.

"Good, good." responded Silas. "When you are done, get back here so I can undergo the binary bonding process. My grand plan is about to begin." Silas said. Arkeville nodded and signed off. He left the room and closed the door. Chip had heard every word they said. They were probably using mind control to keep their men in line. He was also both worried and intrigued about this 'grand plan' of Silas'. After a while, Chip realized that he could move. He lifted his arm and clenched his fist to make sure. He felt, stronger and better, but less alive so to speak. He got up from his chair, and slowly peered out the door. No one was there. He snuck out and sprinted down the hall way towards the laboratory. The door was left slightly cracked. The lights were off, and no one was in there. The only thing lighting up the lab was Bulkhead's optics and spark.

Chip snuck inside the laboratory. The air was cold and not a single soul was stirring. He dashed over to reach his decapitated friend, and ducked behind cover. "Bulkhead! Bulkhead!" He whispered, trying his best not to alert anyone to his presence.

"Chip? Chip is that you?" Bulkhead asked. Chip walked out fro, behind his cover where Bulkhead could see him. "Thank the Matrix." said Bulkhead with relief.

"Oh boy." Chip mumbled. "Bulkhead, what have they done to you?" Chip asked as he placed his hand on Bulkhead's nose.

"It's awful Chip. It's all awful. They've opened me up. They've ripped me apart. They've been dissecting and studying me, like I'm some kind of science experiment. They stripped me of my face plate to mock me. All the horrible things they've called me. 'Thing'.'Monster.' It's bad Chip, I just can't do it anymore." Bulkhead was almost about to break down. Despite that, Chip didn't feel for him. Bulkhead was a machine. Machines weren't designed to have emotions. Why was he malfunctioning like this?

Chip noticed that the wires coming out of Bulkhead's head were attached to a console. He went over to the console, and looked on the screen to see a double helix. Strange. He thought. Why is there a double helix? Only living beings have DNA and cells, not machines. That's when, it all started to click. Chip saw a microscope and under it was a piece of Bulkhead's faceplate. He went over to look into the microscope and was shocked. That piece of Bulkhead's face had cells! "This can't be possible. Only living beings have cells. Robots aren't living things. Unless." Everything began to click. Chip's face lit up as he had a sudden realization. "That's it! The reason why you have cells. The reason why you have DNA. The reason why you are scared. The reason why you and the others prayed for Cliffjumper when he died. The reason why you guys show human emotions. It's because you guys are alive. Alive, alive! Free thinking, sentient, and alive. I get it now."

"Congratulations, you made a discovery." Bulkhead said. "Look, I can't take this anymore. They're treating me like a slave. They're using me to hurt my friends, and I can't let them do that. Chip, do you see the switch on the console? That's the thing keeping me alive. I need you to turn that switch off. Then I'll finally be out of this hellish nightmare." Bulkhead said.

Chip couldn't believe what he just heard. "Are you suggesting that we give up, Bulkhead? Well we can't. If we do that means they have won, and we can't let that happen. We aren't gonna let them push us around!" Chip exclaimed.

"What can we do? They have an army, I have no body, and you're just one kid!" Bulkhead replied.

"Bulkhead, look. I am willing to put my life on the line, if it means we can get our freedom back, and I can't do it without you. Bulkhead. I need you. Please. If you aren't going to do it for you, then do it for me." Chip said. Bulkhead was silent. He didn't want to say it, but Chip was right. If they worked together, they would have a shot. Bulkhead knee it was better to fight and die, than do nothing, and become lifeless pawns.

"Fine. These guys have been using my body to create cybernetic implants. Those implants are used for two types of 'super soldiers' they keep going on about. One of them are called 'Autotroopers'. They are mechs designed to be piloted by humans. If we tried that, then maybe we'd have a shot at busting out of here." Bulkhead explained. Chip pondered about it for a second. He then nodded in agreement. He went over to the console.

"Alright, Bulkhead. Let's get to work!" Chip exclaimed. Chip would have to hurry fast. It would be morning very soon.

 **Stars Shall Scream!**

Starscream and the rest of the seekers flew into the hanger bay, trying their best not to crash into anything. Starscream transformed and landed on his feet. The rest of the squadron transformed, and struggled to stand up. "All of you, get to the CR Chambers. If anyone asks, tell them the scaffolding fell on you." Starscream ordered.

"So you expect us to lie to Soundwave?" Slipstream asked. She could easily tell that something was afoot. This was Starscream after all.

"Well, we wouldn't want Soundwave to know of our failure, would we? Let's just keep this between us." Starscream said. Slipstream nodded and walked past him. The other seekers limped out to go to the CR Chambers. Starscream stayed behind and saw Reflector hiding behind cover.

"Come out Reflector, I can see you." Starscream said. The trio walked out from where they were hiding. Starscream placed his hand on Viewfinder's shoulder. "Listen Viewfinder, I need you to-

"Don't worry, Starscream." said a deep, raspy voice. Starscream turned and was shocked to see Megatron and Soundwave standing in the door way. Soundwave was active once again. "I shall be issuing commands, from now on." Megatron growled...


	16. Rage Against the Machine

**Act 1, Part 2, Chapter 4**

 **Sorry if this one is a little short. This chapter just wraps up some small plot lines. More exciting stuff will happen next chapter**

 **Rage Against the Machine!**

"Power at 100%."

"Shields are fully operational."

"Weapon system, online."

Chip slowly breathed in and out. He extended his right arm out, and then his left. He moved his two legs forwards, slowly. He clenched his fists, to make sure he was in complete control. Chip sat inside a large, green metal suit. He turned around and looked at the spot that Bulkhead's decapitated head once was. Now he was wearing it. It felt weird, but Chip got used to it, bit by bit. He grabbed his helmet and put it on his head. "Ready, Bulkhead?" Chip asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be" Bulkhead replied. Chip had Bulkhead had underwent the binary bonding process. The process involved using a device called the cortical psychic patch. It was a long tube like device that could bond the subconscious of two beings together. Almost like an overlapping nerve system, It allows beings to share thoughts, and memories. Thanks to the device, Chip was able to turn Bulkhead's head into a suit of armor to wear. The technology was created on Cybertron, but Bulkhead wasn't aware of how it got on Earth, That didn't matter now. What mattered was getting out alive. Now that both of them were free, they marched a garage door to their left.

They walked down the hallway, and saw M.E.C.H soldiers talking and playing sports and drinking. Chip approached them and waved. "Hello." the boy said. He aimed his arm at the soldiers which then deployed a rocket launcher. "...and goodbye!" Chip exclaimed as he fired the rocket. The soldiers ducked out of the way, and the rocket hit a wall, sending debris everywhere. Chip activated his machine guns and fired at the M.E.C.H soldiers without remorse. Chip didn't care about morals, it was payback time. The M.E.C.H soldiers screamed and hurried for safety.

One of the M.E.C.H soldiers grabbed a cybertronic laser gun and fired at Chip. Chip's armor was nearly impregnable. He marched up to the soldier, and slammed the soldier's head into the ground with his fist. He continued down the hallway with his weapons drawn.

Dr. Arkeville was in the operating room, installing cybernetic implants into one of his patients. He then got an alert on his communicator. He took off his gloves, stepped aside and pulled it out. He pushed the button to answer. "Dr. Arkeville, one of the specimens has escaped. Get any available Neo Knights out there and stop them!" Silas yelled. Arkeville grinned. He looked over at someone in the corner.

"Well, sweetie. Looks like it's time to play." Arkeville said, giggling like a madman.

Chip walked into another corridor and kept gunning down the M.E.C.H soldiers. One by one, they all fell, as Chip shot them down like cyber ducks in a barrel. The soldiers were unprepared and barely had any time to react, and because the Autotroopers hadn't been finished yet, they were getting mowed down. Chip did not hold back.

While he was on his rampage, he was blasted in the back by a volt of pink lightning. The volt sent him smashing into a wall. He fell over, and slowly got up to see what hit him. To his surprise, it was a fourteen year old girl. She wore a black helmet and face mask with glowing pink eyes. He pink hair was exposed and she wore a magenta tiara. She wore a black and magenta body suit and had a large glowing rod that resembled a scepter. Next to her was a cybertronic equine that bared resemblance to Fluttershy from My Little Pony. On her chest was a pink "M".

"What the?" Chip mumbled to himself. He approached the small girl. "And what are you supposed to be?" Chip asked while folding his arms.

"My name is Professor Penelope Princess!" She replied. "My real name is Penelope Arkeville! But you can call me..." She aimed her scepter at Chip. She pressed a button, which fired a volt of pink energy, that sent Chip smashing through a wall. Chip groaned in pain. "...your destroyer!" She said as she laughed maniacally. Chip thought to himself. They are turning little girls into super soldiers? That was messed up. Chip got up, and saw a Lenco BearCat SWAT truck. It was Bulkhead's body! However, before Chip could do anything, the pony came rushing in, and rammed him into a wall.

"Go get em' Powdered Sugar!" Prof. P. cheered. Chip growled in frustration.

"OK, I think I've had enough!" He grabbed Powdered Sugar by her leg and head, and tore her in half, spewing oil everywhere. He threw down Powdered Sugar's remains in front of Prof. P. She removed her mask and picked up her destroyed drone.

"Powdered Sugar?" She nervously asked. Powdered Sugar's eyes turned from pink to gray. "Waaaah!" Prof. P. started sobbing profusely. She screamed at the sky.

"Yeesh, what a drama queen." Chip said. Chip went over to the SWAT Truck. He got out of the armor and opened up the back door. He detached the cortical psychic patch and through the armor into the back of the truck. He got inside, and hot wired the truck. The truck turned on, and Chip and accelerated as fast as he could. He busted through the garage door and drove out of the M.E.C.H base. He drove as fast as he could, and he didn't look back.

Silas and Dr. Arkeville raced down the hall to see what had happened. They saw injured soldiers, a hole in the wall, and Prof P. kneeling over, crying. "Penny, what happened?" Arkeville asked.

"Some big meanie destroyed my pony!" She shouted while was bawling her eyes out. Arkeville looked through the hole and saw that Bulkhead's body was missing. One of the scientists came running down the hallway.

"Sir, sir!"

"What is it?" Silas asked.

"The specimen's head, it's gone!" The scientist said while panting. Silas growled.

"We have suffered an unfortunate setback. This base has been compromised. Luckily, our operatives in the Savage Lands have told me that they have discovered seven new specimens. Get ready to move out." Silas commanded. Silas went back, and Arkeville helped his granddaughter up.

Later that night, M.E.C.H was packing up all of their resources and supplies, and stored them onto large trucks. Men and women were moving back and forth through the halls, carrying equipment out to the trucks. In the room adjacent to the laboratory, several scientists were removing another specimen's head from the clamps that secured it in place. "What is happening?" asked the specimen.

"We've been compromised. As such, we are moving to our base in South America. Unfortunately we will have to hold off on the binary bonding process." Silas replied. The engineers continued removing the specimen's head, and with the help of some grunts, they placed it onto a truck. They cleared out every last thing. They stripped the building of all it's computers, leaving no trace. By the next morning, they were gone, and they left nothing behind...

It was early in the morning, and Sari's eyes slowly opened. She sat upright and looked around. She saw her dog, Piston on the floor sleeping next to her bed. She got up and looked at her phone. She had saw that her father had left her a voice message. "Hello there, Sari. Just calling in to make sure you are OK. I will be home soon. I love you. Bye." Sari put her phone down and went to get in the shower. She threw some clothes on, ate some breakfast, grabbed her Switch, put it in her bag and walked out the door. When she walked out she saw a red Lamborghini Aventador. It honked it's horn, but Sari ignored it and walked up to Chip's house. The car followed her. It's door opened, and someone stepped it. The person looked like a human version of Johnny Bravo, and he had a black leather jacket on.

Sari stopped, and turned around to face the guy. "I know it's you, Sideswipe." Sari said.

Sideswipe took off his sunglasses "Look, are you avoiding me or something?" Sideswipe asked.

"What? You don't think having an alien stalking you is weird?" Sari asked.

"Look what's your damage?" Sideswipe asked.

"Look Sideswipe, for the last time it's personal. You're an alien robot, you wouldn't understand."

"Look, I'm tired of you saying 'I don't understand'!" Sideswipe snapped. "You think I don't understand about family? Well I do. I'm pretty sure you haven't grown up alongside a brother who has resented you just because he thought you were weaken than him. Guess what, I have!" Sari just scowled and walked off. "So now you're going to walk away, like what I just said didn't even matter. Why couldn't Prime partner me up with a different human?" Sideswipe yelled. He went back inside the car and drove off.

At the Ark, Bumblebee and Arcee drove in from the front entrance, where Ironhide was waiting to greet them.

"Find anything on Chip and Bulkhead's whereabouts?" Ironhide asked. Bumblebee nodded his head no. He lowered his head in shame and was about to walk off, but Ironhide stopped him.

"Don't beat yourself over it, Bumlebee." Ironhide said, resting his arm on the little bot's shoulder. "What happened was beyond our control. You couldn't have been able to do something. It ain't your fault." Ironhide said.

 **:Yeah, I know that, I just. I just hope they're alright.**

 **:I'm worried about them, Y'know?**

"We're all worried, Bee." Ironhide said. He looked at Arcee and noticed that Sideswipe was absent from the group. "Where's Sideswipe?" Ironhide asked.

"He went to check up on the humans. He said he'd be back shortly." Arcee said. Ironhide nodded.

"Why don't y'all take a rest. Ya look mighty exhausted." Ironhide suggested. Bumblebee and Arcee walked to their habitation suites to recharge.

Ironhide walked into the ground bridge room to check on Wheeljack. The ground bridge opened, and Optimus, and Prowl came through, carrying Ratchet. Ironhide and Wheeljack rushed to the wounded medic's aid.

"Rathet, what happened?" Wheeljack asked in distress.

"Don't worry." Prowl said, "He just got roughed up by a few cons. He'll be alright." Prowl carried Ratchet to the medi-bay.

"So, did you find out what that energy reading was?" Wheeljack asked.

"I'm afraid, not." Optimus said. "We had to get Ratchet out of there, before we had time to investigate. Thankfully, Starscream hasn't seized it." Optimus said. Optimus walked down the hallway to his has suite, remaining blissfully unaware of the dark forces that conspired to destroy him...


	17. Preparations

**Act 1, Part 2, Chapter 4**

 **Preparations**

Sixth months had passed, and there was still no word from Bulkhead or Chip. It was the middle of January, and blankets of snow had covered the entire country. Spike and Carly had traveled all the way to Massachusetts to study at MIT. Sari, stayed behind with the Autobots. Chip and his family had lost hope. They had presumed their son to be dead. The Autobots however, hadn't given up hope. They still searched for Chip and Bulkhead, and they haven't given up, yet.

Wheeljack and Jazz were in the command center, on monitor duty, Jazz had headphones on, and he was listening to Earthen music. Wheeljack was installing some upgrades to Teletraan 1. Soon, an orange light began to flash on Teletraan's screen. "ALERT: ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED" the automated voice said as the light flashed on the screen. Wheeljack set down the computer chips he had in his hand it pressed a button, disabling the alarm. He reached into his comm link, and contacted Optimus.

"Optimus Prime, Teletraan has detected another energy source here in Washington." Wheeljack said into the comm link.

"Deploy a sky spy, and scan the area. Me and Prowl will depart in eight million astroseconds." Optimus ordered.

"Understood." Wheeljack said in acknowledgment. He terminated the call, and pressed another button on Teletraan's console, deploying a small cybertronic probe. The probe ejected from the top of the Ark, and flew out of Mt. St. Hillary's volcano. It flew through the air, and scanned the area where the energy source was detected. It was recording footage and transmitting back to the Autobots in the command center. The sky spy saw multiple E.D.C soldiers, standing around waiting, including Agent Fowler and Director Faireborn.

"ALERT! BIOLOGICAL LIFEFORMS DETECTED" Teletraan blared. Wheeljack relayed the footage to Optimus Prime with a press of a button on his comm link. Optimus was in the Armory with Prowl, grabbing some ammo clips as he viewed the footage. He recognized Director Faireborn.

"Me, Prowl and Ratchet will handle the situation, Wheeljack." Optimus said. He switched to another comm channel and called Ratchet. "Ratchet, I need you to report to the ground bridge room, now." Optimus ordered. Optimus and Prowl left the armory and went to the ground bridge room where they met up with Ratchet and Ironhide.

"Ironhide, you're on ground bridge duty." Optimus ordered.

"Sir, yessir." Ironhide said, nodding.

"Where's Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Arcee?" Prowl asked Ironhide.

"Out lookin' for Chip and Bulkhead." Ironhide replied. Prowl nodded. Ironhide entered the coordinates into the ground bridge. He pulled the lever, creating a blueish green portal in the ground bride frame. Optimus, Prowl and Ratchet transformed into vehicle mode, and drove into the ground bridge. When they were all through, Ironhide closed the bridge.

Hundreds of miles away in the state of Alaska, an F-15 came from the heavens and transformed, landing in the snow and ice. Following behind him was a large gray tank that transformed into the behemoth, Megatron. Starscream was carrying an energon detector, which had a blinking light on the screen. "Now then, Starscream. We've come out to this frigid wasteland. Your claims better be accurate, or punishment shall be inflicted." Megatron bellowed.

"I assure you my Lord, energon is indeed out here." Starscream said to reassure his master. "I have seen it with my own optics." Megatron just scowled at the squeamish seeker. Starcream lead the way, but something else appeared on his monitor. "Wait, I have detected more energon, and it's-moving." Starscream said. Megatron turned to the road and saw a green Lenco BearCat. He fired a blast from his fusion cannon, which nearly hit the truck, causing it to swerve out of control. The truck crashed into a traffic light. Inside the truck was Chip Chase. Bulkhead transformed into robot mode, with Chip Chase residing inside of his head.

"What was that?" Bulkhead mumbled he looked up, and saw another blast come his way. He ducked out of the way, and the blast created an explosion. He looked in the distance and saw Megatron and Starscream. "Megatron." Bulkhead mumbled. "Chip, we need to move!" Bulkhead deployed his machine guns and fired at Megatron to try and disorient him. The gunshots lifted Megatron off of his feet, and sent him falling back. Megatron quickly jumped to his feet and fired a charged shot at Bulkhead that created multiple explosions. Bulkhead transformed before the blast hit, and drove off before the explosion could hit him. He sped down the street, and out of sight. Megatron snarled, and walked back to Starscream.

They both resumed their mission. They traveled to the abandoned mine shaft that Starscream fought the Autobots at, six months earlier. They both walked in. The cavern was very spacious, but it was also cold, wet and damp. Starscream removed a flash light gun from his back to light the way. Megatron and Starscream wandered down the halls of the cavern for what felt like cycles. After a few nanokliks, Megatron and Starscream stumbled upon a cavern room filled with shiny pink crystals embedded within the earth. "Energon." Megatron mumbled.

"What could energon be doing here?" Starscream asked.

"I'm not sure, but there is no time to ponder." Megatron growled. The Decepticon leader grabbed one of the crystals, and yanked it out of the Earth, and examined Megatron could feel its radiation, and its warmth. It was definitely energon. "If this truly is raw energon, then in theory there is more energon to be found on this backwater planet/" Megatron reasoned. He turned to his second in command "Starscream, contact my troops. Tell them to set up mining operations out here."

"But, Lord Megatron, this climate is too cold during this quartex. The harsh temperatures could cause irreparable damage to their hardware!" Starscream argued. Megatron sneered at his whiny second in command.

"Then we shall send the Rainmakers to manipulate weather patterns in this sector." Megatron replied. At this point, Starscream was willing to think of any reason to prevent Megatron from harvesting the energon. Starscream wanted to keep it for himself.

"But what if the Rainmakers aren't good enough?" Starscream asked. Megatron growled. He was starting to tire of Starscream's insolence.

"Then I shall have Flatline install internal phlogiston chambers inside of them. That way they shall not succumb to the cold." Megatron said. "Now if you are done with your idiotic questions, Starscream, let us return to our headquarters." Megatron said with a mean scowl. Starscream nodded. The two transformed and flew off.

 _Five Months Earlier_

Silas and Dr. Arkeville stood outside of their headquarters in the Savage Lands of South America. The air was humid, but dust was kicked into the air as the cargo plane landed. The hull of the cargo plane opened and, men rolled out transports with large, inactive mechanoids strapped down to them. Six of the mechanoids were similar in color, all of them being red, silver, black and gold. The seventh mechanoid was purple, and unlike the others lacked a face.

Silas walked over to the transports and examined the mechanical marvels that lay before him. He took note of the two biggest mechs, and grinned. "Looks like our boys did a good job at salvagin' these. They will be perfect specimens." Silas said.

"Of course, but their power will be matched by that of my Neo-Knights!" Dr. Arkeville said, while smiling like a madman.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, doctor. I don't know how well flesh and blood can compare to two tons of mechanical perfection." Silas said. One of the engineers approached Silas.

"We got what you were looking for. Found this lot somewhere out in Jasper, Nevada." the engineer said. "N.B.E units three through nine. We had some hackers access their hard drives and apparently these guys call themselves 'Dynobots', with a 'y'. This purple one, is called 'Shockwave.' We carbon dated these guys, and we learned that they have been buried underground for almost thirty thousand years."

"Hmm. They shall serve our purposes well. Get them inside. Analyze them, and get them ready for the reactivation process. It's time to build us an army." Silas said.


	18. Siege

**Act 1, Part 2, Chapter 5**

 **I'm so sorry for this chapter being late, guys. I've been really busy, and I've been writing another fanfic, so I haven't had much time to focus on this one.**

 **Siege**

 _Five Months Earlier_

In the South American M.E.C.H facility, the engineers were reactivating the machines brought to them by the salvage team. "Beginning reactivation process, now!" said one of the engineers in the facility. Several men who were at computers pressed buttons on the computer consoles, which sent multiple electric charges to the inert Transformers that stood before them. The light in each of their optics lit up, and Silas put on a crooked smile. "Run the control program." The head engineer said. The men pressed a different button on their consoles, which installed a program into each Transformer's brain module, that would give complete control to M.E.C.H. "N.B.E units three through eight, initiate transformation sequence." The engineer commanded.

All six Dynobots transformed into mechanical dinosaurs, a tyrannous, a triceratops, a pterodactyl, a stegosaurus, a brontosaurus and a velociraptor. Their monstrous faces unsettled the engineers. "Return to your robot modes." The engineer commanded. The Dynobots obeyed and transformed back. The engineer smiled and turned to Silas. "Now that we have control over these machines, we can begin to test their combat efficiency." The engineer said to Silas.

"Excellent." Silas replied.

"Now, then sir. If you are ready to commence the binary bonding process, we can go get N.B.E one and-

Silas had cut off the engineer, even going as far as to stop him with his hand. "On second thought, no." He muttered.

"But, why sir? I thought you wanted to go through with the process." The engineer asked, confused.

"I know, but I wish to reevaluate my desicion. Do not worry. Keep working on building my army. We'll begin the binary bonding process when I'm good and ready." Silas ordered. The engineer nodded in acknowledgment. For a moment, some hesitation befell upon Silas. If he bonded with this creature he would be bonded with them forever. There would share the same thoughts and experiences. They would feel the same pleasure and the same pain as one another. They would become one. The thought of this terrified Silas, but he didn't let that stop him. He was willing to do anything to achieve his goals. Even if it meant killing his own men. He left the room without another word.

All throughout the night, engineers continued to prep the Dynobots to suit their own needs.

 _Present Day_

As night fell over the land of Oregon, Sideswipe, Arcee and Bumblebee drove near an abandoned warehouse. Not a single soul was to be found there. They were still on the lookout for their missing friends. Sideswipe transformed into robot mode and kicked the gate over, creating an entry point for the Autobots. "Let's make this quick, fellas. If we're out here too long we're gonna end up like snow bones!" Sideswipe exclaimed.

"Snow cones." Bumblebee corrected, buzzing out his words. "And you're right Sideswipe. The moment my insignia starts flashing blue, I'm outta here!" The little bot beeped. Cybertronian hardware was vulnerable to the cold. If a Transformer were to stay out in extreme temperatures for excess periods of time, they would eventually go into stasis lock to preserve their bodies. Ratchet designed an early warning system to inform the Autobots when forced stasis lock was about to happen. It was indicated by the flashing of a blue light from their Autobot insignias.

Sideswipe walked up to the side of the warehouse and punched a hole into it's brick wall. He smashed through the wall, allowing the others to enter. They walked in, and split up into different directions. They activated their night vision, which caused their optics to turn green so they could see in the dark. They searched for a couple of minutes, but Arcee could hear a faint beeping noise coming from somewhere inside the building.

Many miles away, M.E.C.H soldiers were watching the monitors and they picked up the readings they detected in Oregon. "Sir, we've identified three heat signatures." said one of the radar specialists. "They're coming from Oregon. Possible nonbiologicals. " Dr. Arkeville stepped forward to address the specialist.

"Lock onto those readings and deploy a squadron of Autotroopers and Neo Knights to intercept them. If they are nonbiological, they shall use lethal force to dispatch them, but not to destroy them. We will need them alive if we are to study them." muttered the German scientist.

"Yes sir." the specialist replied. "Circuit Breaker, you and your squadron are go. We are sending you the target's coordinates. Intercept them and use force to detain them, but don't destroy them. Arkeville needs them intact for his experiments."

"Copy that." Circuit Breaker replied in a cold, almost dead voice.

The Autobots roamed around the facility for a few more breems. Arcee kept hearing the beeping noise, and it was starting to bother her. "Does anyone here that beeping noise?" she asked.

"Beeping noise?" Bumblebee asked as he turned to face her.

"Everybody out!" Sideswipe exclaimed. Arcee and Bumblebee made a mad dash for the exit. Sideswipe jumped out of the warehouse and landed in the snow, bricks and glass flying in all different directions. The three bots ran from the warehouse, and hid behind some crates.

"What the hell?" Arcee exclaimed.

"You said there was a beeping noise. There could have been an explosion." Sideswipe replied.

"Unlikely." Bee said. "If there was a bomb it would've blown up by now!" Sideswipe's optics widened, as he realized what was really going on.

"We're being traced!" Sideswipe exclaimed.

"Sideswipe, I've just detected multiple unknown units heading directly towards us." Arcee reported as she looked at her GPS. The bots suddenly heard the roaring of several cars heading towards them. With in moments, they were in the Autobot's line of sight. They drove off several ramps and transformed into automatons as large as the Autobots.

"What in the pit of the Inferno is this?" Sideswipe asked. The automatons grabbed their heads and ripped them right off. Arcee felt sick to her fuel pump. The Autobots stared with optics wide at the abomination. The automatons set their heads on the ground, and the heads transformed into humans in small exo-suits.

"What are you?" Sideswipe asked.

"We are the next in a line of biomechanical super soldiers, who will be your downfall!" said one of the humans. The decapitated robots deployed several machine guns, and opened fire on the Autobots.

"Get cover!" Sideswipe exclaimed. The three flipped behind the crates. Sideswipe deployed his photon rifle and aimed at the Autotroopers. He fired several blasts at them, knocking them down. Sideswipe jumped out from behind cover, transformed and sped right into the robots. He transformed, unsheathed a katana and began slicing off the Autotrooper's limbs. As the Autotrooper's returned fire, Sideswipe deflected the blasts with his sword. Suddenly a huge, red laser, hit Bumblebee in the back. The yellow Autobot collapsed to the ground, and Arcee turned around to see who had struck him.

Arcee looked up to see three cyborg warriors on top of the warehouse. The center one was female, the other had a crossbow, and the last one was smaller than the others. They were the Neo Knights. Arcee didn't know what to make of these warriors. Before she could act, their leader gave them orders.

"Subdue them, but do not destroy them." She ordered. The three cyborgs leaped from the building and landed on Arcee. One of them stabbed an arrow into her shoulder pad. The other shit a pink laser at her.

"Foul creature, prepare to feel the wrath of Angry Archer!" One of the cyborgs shouted as Arcee screamed in pain. He back flipped off of her and the arrow he jabbed into her exploded, sending her tumbling to the ground. Bumblebee got up and tore a lamp post out of the ground. He ran up to one of the NeoKnights, Professor Princess, and he walked her with the lamp post, sending her flying into a wall.

"Wait, Bumblebee!" Arcee exclaimed. She fired a pink laser at the Neo Knights, that missed them, but it hit the ground near them, sending them to the ground, disorient them. She and Bumblebee ran as fast as they could. "Our attackers are human, we can't harm them!" She explained. Suddenly, a missile hit Arcee, causing her to smash through more crates.

"Take this you mean robots!" Professor Princess shouted as she unleashed more pink lasers at the Autobots.

"Arcee!" Bumblebee cried. He grabbed two crates and hurled them at the humans. Circuit Breaker fired two lasers which destroyed the crates. She fired another laser, which hit Bumblebee and caused him to land on top of Arcee.

Meanwhile, Sideswipe stabbed one of the Autotroopers. He fired more shots from his flare gun at them. The humans deployed weapons to try and stun Sideswipe. At best they distracted him, but it allowed the Autotroopers to get a good few licks on the Autobot. Sideswipe fired a flare from the flare gun on his shoulder which struck the Autotroopers. "Come and get some you spawns of a glitch!" He shouted.

Circuit Breaker was approaching Bumblebee, who groaned in pain. She aimed a missile at the poor Autobot. "Looks like you're at an end, machine. I would love to offline you right here and now, but my employer wants you alive, but he didn't exactly say you had to be fully intact." She was about to fire, but Sideswipe used his rocket pack to rocket jump and land in front of her. He kicked her into the other Neo Knights, and shot a flare at them, starting a small fire. Then, his insignia started to flash blue. The insignias of the others started to flash as well. Sideswipe pulled Arcee and Bumblebee out of the rumble.

"This facility's a lost cause. Let's get out of here before more show up." Sideswipe said. He grabbed both of them, and activated his rocket pack. He propelled himself into the air and flew off. The Autotroopers and Neo Knights tried to shoot them down, but to know avail. They were gone.

 **Cold War**

Megatron and Soundwave stood in the frosty caverns of Alaska, surveying the Vehicons as they mined the energon. The silence was interrupted by Barricade, who walked into the room Megatron and Soundwave were in. "Report, Barricade." Megatron ordered, with his hands behind his back, facing away from Barricade.

"My lord, our seekers have discovered energon deposits in Canada and in the Northern United States. We theorize that there is more energon to be found on this planet." Barricade reported. This news brought a wicked smile to Megatron's faceplate. "My lord, it is not my place to question your judgement, but why have we not devoted our time and resources to destroying the Autobots?" Barricade asked.

Megatron turned to face Barricade. Soundwave expected Megatron to lash out and kill Barricade for questioning his master, but Megatron did the opposite. "Because, Barricade. As much as it pains me to say this, we are weak. We lack the resources necessary to destroy the Autobots. I want to avoid another nine million stellar cycle stalemate. We must develop our technology, and once we are strong enough, we will strike." Megatron replied. Barricade nodded and turned to leave the room.

"Soundwave, send Buzzsaw to spy on Barricade. If he shows any signs of doubt in our cause, you have full authorization to kill him." Megatron whispered to his communications officer.

"As you command, my liege." Soundwave replied. "Buzzsaw, eject." Soundwave deployed Buzzsaw from his chest. The mechanical bird squawked and flew out of the room to follow Barricade.

"Soundwave..." Megatron began. "How do you feel about my leadership?" Megatron asked. For once in his life, Soundwave wasn't sure how to respond.

"Lord Megatron, it is not my place to question your leadership." Soundwave replied.

"No, Soundwave. Don't give me that answer. Tell me how you truly feel. That is not a request. That is an order." Megatron commanded. Soundwave froze up.

"I am perfectly content with your leadership, my liege. I am positive that under your command, we shall vanquish the Autobots." Soundwave responded.

"Excellent, Soundwave." Megatron said. Little did Soundwave know, hiding in the back of the room was a sniper, waiting to kill Soundwave if he made the wrong decision. Thankfully for Soundwave, he made the right one.


End file.
